Fragment: Ruby Gaiden
by Aloehisja
Summary: She was a woman of many titles. Rose of the Battlefield, the Red Reaper, Silver Hope, Vale's Champion, Hero of Atlas, and many more. Her hood flows with the blood of her enemies and the Grimm she's slain. This is the story of Ruby Rose: Huntress of the Inner Circle.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello everyone. It's Aloehisja with a new story as promised. I'm a fan of the Metal Gear series (except for that zombie survival one) and RWBY, and after reading a one shot that combined Grimm Eater and RWBY, I wanted to try and make one myself.**

 **To make things a bit more challenging and not so predictable, no I will not just replace the Metal Gear characters with the RWBY characters. I'm also going to add some different things to keep it close to the RWBY world.**

 **And as promised we have two perspectives: from Jaune Arc and from Ruby Rose.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Metal Gear.**

 **Prologue:** Ruby Rose

The forest of Patch was quiet as eleven-year old Ruby Rose lay in the snow atop a cliff. She was the daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long, Vale's greatest fighter of the century and Summer Rose, the White Rose. Warrior's blood flowed through her, and she was born with the will to be a Huntress.

Lately though, she had doubts of becoming one. The world was quiet as the Color Wars ended. The longest battle recorded in history, and her parents were in the books as the legendary team to push back the invaders of Atlas and Mystral along with her Uncle Qrow. After the long war, there was a treaty amongst the four kingdoms to put things to a truce. Vale and Atlas even put their past behind them to form a partnership – they were soon branded as the Inner Circle whilst parts of Mystral beyond Haven and Vacuo along with all of Menagerie were stated as the Outer Circle.

"Ruby." A thirteen-year old girl with long curly locks of gold called her with a puppy following her. It was her sister Yang Xiao Long and their dog Zwei.

Story was that Yang's mother defected to Mystral to fight against Atlas and Vale with her own army. Raven Branwen was branded a traitor to Vale for slaughtering hundreds of soldiers and was exiled from the Inner Circle. Were she to be spotted, she would be treated as a terrorist and shot on sight.

"Yang." Ruby greeted her sister as she got off the snow.

Walking towards her, the older sister brushed off the pieces of snow still stuck to her. Yang Xiao Long loved her sister more than anything in the world. While many in the town who knew her mother shunned her as 'her child,' Ruby along with their dad and uncle loved her all the same. Summer even defended her from those who thought to take their anger out on the cute blonde girl.

"It's time for lunch." Yang pulled her sister along as they headed back to their house. "What are you even doing out here? It's freezing."

"I was just thinking." Ruby said, hugging her sister's arm to keep her warmer.

"About what?"

"What if I don't want to be a Huntress?" She asked, knowing she could share anything with Yang.

Humming in thought, Yang turned back to her sister with her own question. "If you don't want to be a huntress, then what do you want to be?"

"I don't know." Ruby raised her shoulders, not thinking that far ahead. She just felt like there was more to life than being a warrior.

"Maybe you can do something that you like." Yang helped out.

"I like cookies." Ruby immediately said. "Ooh! Maybe I can be a baker! I can make cookies all day and give them to people while eating some myself."

"Maybe." Her older sister chuckled, not being a hardcore fan of sweets like her.

"Or maybe a dogsled racer." Ruby had stars in her eyes as she picked up Zwei. "And Zwei can be my leading dog."

"I'm not sure Zwei will get that big." Yang shook her head.

Their uncle once joked Zwei was part wolf that would someday get big, but the cute puppy didn't look like it was going to grow any bigger.

Putting Zwei down, Ruby continued to think of more things she liked. There was being a blacksmith because she liked to make stuff, then she thought of being a teacher like the nice lady in Signal. The future was looking bright for her and Yang. Anything was possible when you lived in the Inner Circle.

"What about you?" Ruby asked Yang. "What do you want to become?"

"Me?" Yang pointed to herself with a thoughtful look. "I still want to become a Huntress."

"Really?" The little sister raised a brow. "Why?"

The truth was, Yang wanted to prove to the world that she wasn't her mother. She wasn't a traitor to Vale and she was more than her mother's child. She wanted their respect and would prove it by becoming a protector of the people like her dad and Summer Rose.

"I just want to have fun exploring the world." She lied. "Even though the war is over, there're still Grimm lurking around every corner. If you become a baker or a dog sledder, you're going to need me around to keep you safe from the big bad Grimm. Rawr rawr rawr!"

Ruby giggled uncontrollably as Yang pulled her into a tickle fight. As they laughed and enjoyed their walk back to the house, they saw Summer sitting on the porch waiting for them with a cup of cocoa in her hands.

"There you two are." The woman in a white apron stood up. "I almost thought I'd have to come get you both."

"Sorry mom." Yang apologized, still not letting go of Ruby. "I found Ruby laying in the snow."

"Well come inside and get into some dry clothes the both of you." The mother told the two girls. "We don't want you catching a cold like the last time."

"Yes mom." Both girls said together, running in to get changed.

Before the mother walked in, she turned back to the trees after catching a bit of black in her vision. She thought she saw a crow sitting on one of the branches, but it was gone. It couldn't have been Qrow since he was on a mission. Not brushing it off as some sort of coincidence, Summer slowly shut the door to her house with a feeling of dread looming over her. Peeking from a crack in the curtain, she scanned the trees but saw no bird.

"I'm probably just imagining things." Summer thought to herself as she walked to the kitchen.

Turning on the stove, she heated up another pot of warm milk knowing his two girls would want a cup. In Yang's case she'd want to mix French vanilla in hers while Ruby would want strawberry flavor. Inhaling a breath to calm her nerves, she took a sip of her cup before it became too cold.

She nearly spat the drink out though once she saw something move to her left at the corner of her eyes. Turning, she saw the kitchen window. Walking towards it, she peeked from all corners to see if if any Grimm was around but saw nothing.

' _Get a hold of yourself Summer.'_ The mother berated herself. _'You're safe at home with your two daughters.'_

Walking back to the table, she turned off the stove before the milk overheated and poured two cups for her daughters.

"All clean." Ruby ran in with Yang close behind.

They looked so adorable with the sweaters she made for them. Any worry Summer had was washed away just having the two of them close by. Whatever came, she'd take it on and triumph for them.

"When's dad coming home?" Yang asked as she sat at her side of the table.

"He'll be back soon." She replied, knowing Taiyang was currently in town getting some errands she texted him. "I asked him to get some bread and milk on his way home."

Both girls shared a look with each other before turning back to Summer.

"Are you going on a mission?" Ruby asked, swinging her feet as she waited for her cup to cool down a bit.

"How did you two know?" She asked, knowing she hadn't told them yet.

"Whenever you're about to go on a mission, you always tell dad to get bread and milk." Yang pointed out.

Nodding, Summer guessed she had to come clean now that they knew.

"Yes, there is a mission." She told her daughters. "Tonight I'll be going to Atlas Academy to meet their Headmaster for a diplomatic meeting."

Things wee always busy for the Xiao Long – Rose couple since they became legends. Qrow was the same having to always travel from village to village. The three members of ST(R)Q were heroes and were always at the top of the list whenever they were available. It made raising their kids tough with how little time they had for them. But now that they were bigger though…

"Would you guys like to come with me?" She surprised the girls with the sudden question.

"Yes!" They both cheered, getting off their chairs to hug their mom.

Giggling in excitement, the three couldn't wait for tonight.

After lunch and helping the girls pack their extra clothes for the trip to Atlas, Summer took the time to go over her assignment one more time. She'd meet with the headmaster of Atlas, get some documents and blueprints for the reinforcement of Vale's security, and be home by the next morning. It all sounded so boring but after the battles she and her husband have been through, a change of something less bloody was what she needed.

"I'm home!" Her husband announced as he walked in.

"Dad!" His girls ran to him while dressed for their trip.

"Hey!" He smiled, picking his two precious gifts into his arms. "What's with all the excitement? I only bought bread and milk."

"We're going to see Atlas!" Ruby exclaimed, getting Taiyang to turn to his wife.

"They're getting old enough to travel now." Summer explained. "Plus we never get to spend enough time with them before another request for us pops up."

Taiyang didn't disagree with her there. It was hard to juggle between the requests and his two girls. Turning missions down was easy, but the pay to keep his girls fed and clothed paid handsomely. Just because you became a legend in the history books didn't mean you instantly got the Lien for everything. They still had to pay for the heater and some of their loans.

"Ok." He agreed, setting his girls down to give his wife a kiss. Hearing an 'eew' from behind them, he saw his two girls were watching them. "You guys are still here? Go do what little girls do. Play with a doll. Teach Zwei to go poop in the woods."

Rolling their eyes, the girls went into their rooms to play. They had enough playing in the snow for the day and it was getting dark fast. It wouldn't be long before the girls were called by Summer for their trip to Atlas.

 **Atlas**

"Wow." Ruby whispered with eyes wide as she stared at the shining city. Despite being nighttime, the city was like a metropolis with all streets and buildings illuminated. "It's amazing."

"It's a little too bright for my taste." Yang squinted.

On the ride here, Summer was glad her two girls enjoyed themselves. They had their heads constantly on the windows looking at the view, she didn't have to worry about them running off and causing trouble for the other passengers.

"Come on girls." She grabbed their hands. "Atlas Academy awaits. We can get some souvenirs later."

While they walked the streets, Ruby saw how rich the place was and marveled at the technology all around her. Yang on the other hand was staring at something else.

"Mom. What's that over there?" The blonde pointed to a robot marching behind a person with dog-ears carrying a large sack of crystals.

Summer saw who she was pointing and immediately stopped in her tracks. She knew Atlas had questionable practices, but to see it was to this extent was horrible. Seeing his daughter waiting for an answer, she couldn't tell her what it really was.

"Don't look sweetie." She pulled the two along.

Even as she rushed them to the academy, Yang glanced back to see the faunus had fallen over with the weight of the crystals crushing him. She thought the robot would help the man up, but instead it just watched the man and waited for him to get back up.

' _Why?'_ The twelve-year old asked as she couldn't understand the bad treatment.

As Summer turned a corner, Yang lost sight of the robot and faunus – but she wouldn't forget what she saw.

 **Atlas Academy**

"You two wait here for me, okay?" Summer told her two girls as they stopped at a door with the title General on it.

Knocking on the door, Summer opened it to see a man with a white moustache having a shouting contest with the head of Atlas Academy and its army, James Ironwood. Seeing Summer enter, the two men ceased their argument to address the newcomer in the room.

"Miss Rose." The general greeted her with a nod. "I was just having a discussion with Jacque Schnee. You must have heard of him."

"Of course she would have. A legend such as herself would know of me." The Schnee smirked while eyeing Summer up and down. Walking towards her, he took her hand and placed a chaste kiss on it. "Charmed I'm sure."

Summer had to stop herself from gagging at his attempt to 'charm' her. His hands were cold as ice and the look in his eyes showed he was after more than just friendship. For the sake of getting those vital documents though, she'd stomach his presence.

"I'm sorry, but I've never heard of you." She said sweetly while pulling her hand away.

Turning back to James, she ignored the small frown he formed. Her chance to speak with the general was interrupted as Jacque moved to stand in front of her once more.

"Well perhaps we could get to know each other better." He said with a winning smile. "Say a dinner after this? Maybe a soiree?"

"Sounds nice, but I'd like to take my children on a tour of Atlas after this." The look on the man's face was priceless. Bad enough she and her husband have people like him trying to get into their pants, it was all so they could have the benefit of sleeping with the 'legends.'

"Pardon me." Summer bowed, walking to Ironwood's desk. "I'm here to collect the documents regarding Vale's security construction."

"Of course." James nodded, taking the papers from underneath his desk. "With the rising of the group known as the White Fang, we all need to up our securities in the Inner Circle."

"I couldn't agree more." Summer nodded, placing the papers in a safe pack. "I'll be seeing you men to your conversation now."

"Thank you." James bowed curtly as she walked out of the office. Turning to Jacque, he gave a smirk knowing how badly he failed.

Closing the door, Summer looked around to see where her daughters were waiting but found they weren't anywhere close. Groaning at their energy, she rushed off to find them. Little did she know, someone else was following her.

 **With Ruby and Yang**

"Yang, wait up." Ruby called to her sister as she ran through the streets.

The older sister couldn't get the image of that faunus out of her head. If she was going to be a Huntress, then she needed to help people when they needed it. Slowing down a bit so Ruby could be close, the blonde girl peeked a corner where she last saw the robot and the man. Finding no one, she looked around to see they were far away from the academy.

"Let's go back." Yang turned around to her little sister.

Grabbing her sister's hand, they took in the sight once more of the shining buildings. They're mom was probably waiting for them at the same place.

"Oops! Sorry." Someone bumped into Ruby said. The sisters couldn't make out who it was due to the trenchcoat he was wearing.

"It's ok." Ruby shook her head. "Do you know how far Atlas Academy is?"

Instead of saying a word, the person just pointed them in the right direction. After that, the person sprinted far away from themwhile keeping his head covered.

"Thank you!" The little girl shouted and ran in said direction with Yang close behind.

As they made it to the entrance though, there was a large crowd of people blocking their way. Some were murmuring in whispers while the police pushed them back from crowding one spot.

Pushing their way to the front, they saw a white cloak soaking in blood. The girls knew that cloak anywhere else and pushed past the police to get to the body. The general of Atlas was present as well while summoning some med-bots to his location.

"Mom!" Both girls cried, kneeling down to their injured mother.

"G-girls." Summer croaked, feeling she was losing too much blood.

"Get those two away from here." James ordered some of his men. "the medical drones are on their way and need the room to maneuver her gently into the med bay."

Lifting up the two girls, the soldiers carried them away from the crowd to another location to be looked after. One of the soldiers comforted them that their mother would be alright while boasting of Atlas' medical advancements. They weren't listening though. They were too worried for their mother to hear anything.

Come the next morning, Summer Rose was announced dead post procedure. Atlas medical teams did all they could to treat the blood wounds and gave transfusions. News reports stated it was mutiple stab wounds that went clean through the vital organs. Theories on who the killer was flooded the net and news channels linking from the White Fang to a crazed serial killer. The documents on her body were not found, putting emphasis on the terrorist group lurking in the Inner Circle.

The children of Summer Rose were escorted back to Patch personally by General Ironwood himself, who delivered the news to a distraught Taiyang Xiao Long. Her body was buried in Patch on the very cliff where Ruby liked to lay down and think.

This was the drop of water that sprouted the Rose of the Battlefield.

 **END**

 **AN: And that's another prologue. Not as chaotic as Jaune's but if you were paying attention, they are in the richer part of the world when the Color War ended. Don't be jumping to conclusion yet readers. Nothing is as it seems in this and the events aren't linking just yet. The Color Wars has ended, but there is another more silent war going on between the two: The Gray Wars. (Similar to what we have as the Cold War.)**

 **Hope this got you hooked, because we're going down the path of M Rated with both stories.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Metal Gear**

 **AN: Been a while since I updated. Don't worry, RWBY + J is still going to be updated soon. It's just that syncing the 2 Fragments is a bit tricky. I had to go back and forth to make sure there were no inconsistencies while making sure to put it into the perspectives of both characters.**

 **But enough on that, lets get to the story.**

 **Chapter 1:** Peace?

It's been two years since the death of Summer Rose, and Ruby was now thirteen. Investigation went into her mom's death, but the only thing that could be found out was that Summer was stabbed and that the weapon had to be powerful to cut through aura. After that, the little rose decided to commit her life to becoming a huntress. It wasn't for revenge though. She was doing this to honor her mom and everything she stood for.

Standing at her mom's grave in the snow, Ruby was dressed in a red cloak almost similar to her mom's white one. A lot has happened in the world, and it looked like nothing was close to stopping.

"Hi mom." She talked to her mom's gravestone. "It's been a year now. A lot has changed sine then. Dad's …coping. Yang's helping out too. She's almost close to graduating. That's neat."

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Ruby kicked some of the snow piling on her boots. "I'm doing fine too. Uncle Qrow's helping me learn how to use a scythe. He say's I'm not complete garbage."

"I've also been watching the news lately." She added, rubbing her hands together. "Things aren't looking so good in the world. But that's what I'm here for. I'm going to try and make things better."

With nothing left to say, Ruby walked off to go back home. Recently, there have been talks of amazing warriors being found all over Remnant. What surprised her though was that some of them were a couple years older than her.

One person who was most notable to her was the champion of Mistral's Inner Circle, Pyrrha Nikos. She was known for being a great defender against the rebellious Outer Circle and a seeker of peace. Ruby admired her for that.

But with the good also came the bad. Ruby wasn't one to focus on the bad, but in her job description, it was a requirement. Two of them being Siena Kahn and Adam Taurus of the White Fang. Horrible people who led their people to violence and bloodshed.

One day Ruby hoped to be like Pyrrha and inspire hope in people for peace. It was bad enough with Grimm attacking, but for people to fight one another just made things worse. And speaking of Grimm…

Hearing a growl to her right, Ruby got into a ready stance once a Beowulf popped out. Off to her left, two more crawled out with a pack circling her. They were minors, but quantity was always scary – to the untrained that is.

Whipping out her weapon she fired a few rounds that got a few of them. It wouldn't scare them away though. Just because three died didn't mean they'd turn tail and run. Grimm had no emotion, so she shouldn't feel remorse for slaughtering them. At least that's what her uncle taught her.

After shooting down more than half of them, it only left five remaining. Just when she thought it was going to be an easy streak, they all howled into the air loudly. That wasn't a good sign.

Suddenly, the ground started rumbling as the sounds of more growls snarls filled the air. In a matter of seconds, Ruby was surrounded by Beowulves with a few alphas leading the pack. Checking her ammo, she only had three magazines left and they weren't enough for the numbers around her. As the beasts charged, she dodged them using her super speed and used one of them as a springboard to jump high into the air.

As she reached her highest peak, she turned down to see the Grimm down below waiting for her to descend. As an alpha had its jaws open to catch her in it's maw, she turned her gun into a scythe and swung down to cut it in half! Spinning her weapon, she sliced anything that dared to come near her and left nothing but disintegrating limbs in her path.

By the time she stopped, there was only one left that was running away. So it did know the meaning of fear. Shifting her weapon into sniper mode, she narrowed her eyes and took aim. Once the Beowulf was in her crosshairs, she took the shot and frowned to see she missed it by a small length. At least she nicked its ear a bit.

Letting it get away, Ruby walked off to her house. She's been out long enough and it was time for dinner. Entering the cabin, she found her sister sitting by the table with a plate across from her. Their dad wouldn't be joining them as usual. He was probably off at the store or on a mission. She just hoped he wouldn't come back with bread and milk again. Their fridge was getting stuffed with those things.

"Hi." Ruby greeted her sister while taking her seat.

"Hey Rubes." Yang greeted back with a small smile. "So how was the talk?"

"It was fine." She replied. "I got to tell her about you and dad. Then I fought some Beowulves on the way back. One got away though."

"Ooh." The older sister winced. "That's another training with Uncle Qrow."

Despite everything, Yang was a constant light in Ruby's life. She was always strong and another person she could look up to. Despite how she acted, the blonde brawler was a top student who was smarter than others led on.

As Ruby dug into her meal, Yang turned on the radio on her scroll to hear the latest news going on. The Gray Wars was the big talk with rumors of it finally ending, but that was just Lisa Lavender talking while others were debating on the other kingdoms being a threat. Mistral was still in a civil war with majority falling into its own system outside of the kingdom and Atlas was still facing attacks from the White Fang and bandits. And Vale and Vacuo were still trying to come to a compromise.

" _In other news, talk of a new rising star has come up in Mistral once more."_ An announcer said through Yang's scroll. _"Word is that Pyrrha Nikos has finally met her match. Not much is known of this 'rival', but the rebels in the Outer Circle call him their champion."_

Ruby rolled her eyes at that bit of news. Those rebels were just causing people trouble with their riots. It's been going on too long now and it needed to end. Why couldn't they just accept the change and embrace what was being given to them? Turning to Yang, she raised a brow when she heard her humming the rioters song.

"…when tomorrow comes." Yang sang a bit of the end. Looking up from her scroll, she saw her sister staring at her weird. "What? It's a nice song."

"But they're singing it to get rid of the Inner Circle." She pointed out.

Lately, Yang and Ruby were having a disagreement on the state of the world. The little rose didn't understand why her sister was supporting the Outer Circle's claims.

"Listen to the lyrics and you'll understand Rubes." The blonde replied. "It's not like they're singing for war or the death of a country. They're asking for freedom and unity."

"Then they should just join the Inner Circle." Ruby said. It was the simplest answer, and yet for some reason they didn't want it.

Yang shook her head at her sister's naivety. She just couldn't see it like everyone else did. They've had this talk before and yet every time, her little sister would always be in support of whatever the Inner Circle was saying. If Yang was to be honest, she'd love to go out to the Outer Circle and explore the lands. Vale was nice and Atlas had its okay parts, but the thought of going into the lush lands of Mistral and the deserts of Vacuo sounded exciting.

Getting tired of the political talk, Yang changed the frequency on her scroll to another channel. After a few changes, Ruby perked up at the current song playing.

"Can you stick to that one?" She asked, listening to a song being played.

"Isn't this Weiss Schnee?" Yang asked, not much of a fan of her songs. She had a nice voice, but she wasn't a fan of her songs. Too classy for her. "You are such a fangirl."

"Shut up!" Ruby pouted with a small blush. "I just like the symphony is all."

"Is that why you have her poster in your room?" The older sister smirked once the blush got redder.

After the song ended, the announcer came back on.

" _And that was Weiss Schnee's Mirror Mirror playing to you folks."_ The female voice said to the listeners. _"Coming up, it's another one of Weiss Schnee's performance as requested by one of our callers. Presenting Sing A Song sang by Weiss Schnee. Sing A Song was originally made in the late 70's and was brought back by Atlas with a new singer."_

Yang remembered this song. Summer had the original in her collection and Yang thinks they still had it somewhere in storage. Weiss was doing well in keeping close to the original, but Yang would still prefer the old to the new.

Continuing to listen, the two sisters sat together in silence enjoying this brief peace.

 **Next day**

 **Signal Academy**

Taiyang hadn't returned the following night. The daughters had to hear it from their uncle that their dad was pulled into a mission in Mistral of all places. From what Qrow could tell them, he was needed in helping to capture some of the rebels of the Outer Circle. It was a request from a general who went by the name Odyssey.

The two could trust Yang to look after the house and Ruby. The brawler was fifteen years old and knew what she was doing. From the sound of things, their dad would be gone for about a month since the rebels were hard to catch and had their ways of escaping custody.

Walking through the halls to the next class, Ruby overheard some students talking while huddled at the windows. They were crowding while muttering something under their breaths.

"There's that Xiao Long chick again." One of them said loud enough for Ruby to hear.

Stopping to go over and see what they were talking about, Ruby's eyes found the sight of her sister in the courtyard being surrounded by a bunch of girls. It looked like another fight was about to start.

Recently, Yang's been targeted by a lot of students. Sometimes it was because of her mom, and most of the time it was because of rejection. If she rejected a guy, he'd try to take it out on her in a fight thinking a good beating would change her mind. If a girl got rejected because the guy preferred her, they'd take it out on her out of pure jealousy. In Yang's words: They're teenagers. Stupid is a constant at this time.

Not like they had any room to talk. The two sisters always got into something stupid whether going after Grimm or messing with explosives. And if not that, then going with the fight instead of walking away from it. It's what they do.

Judging from the girl behind the group with tears in her eyes, Ruby could guess who was the one that got rejected. And there was the best friend puffing her chest out in front of the crying girl with spear in hand while her back up formed a circle around Yang. Easy to say, this was not the first time Ruby's seen this happen.

"So do you wanna start this off, or should I just go?" Yang thumbed to the entrance that was being blocked. Even with two girls guarding it with swords, it wasn't going to bother her. She could practically see their knees shaking.

"Not until you apologize!" The girl shouted while pointing a finger at her.

That was a first for Yang. No one gave her that prerogative before. Usually they just go in swinging after asking to go. Looks like someone's learnt.

"Okay. Sorry." Yang leaned a bit to the right to apologize to the crying girl. "I don't know who the guy is but if he rejected you, you're probably too good for him."

This was a good one for the brawler. There was no need for busting skulls or pushing faces into the pavement. And judging by how the girl peeked up from her fingers to give her a small smile, this was going to end peacefully.

Then the 'best friend' had to open her gob.

"We're not accepting it at just that!" She said while crossing her arms. "Get down on your knees and say your sorry."

Yang had to suck in a breath after she was told to do that. Ruby narrowed her eyes after she heard that too. The brawler's eyes even flashed red for a second.

Looking around and seeing no one was going to say anything, Yang caught a glimpse of Ruby and sighed. She couldn't afford a detention while their dad was out. She doubted Ruby even knew how to make her own dinner and didn't want her to eat alone at the table. But at the same time, her dumb pride couldn't just let these bitches have their way. Purposely unlacing her shoe, Yang made it that she kneeled down to tie it.

"I'm sorry." She repeated, her apology while tying her shoe. Getting back up, the glare from the 'bestie' wasn't even gone.

"What kind of apology was that?" She scoffed. "Do it again."

Like Yang said: teenagers are stupid. And she's a teenager, so it was time to do something stupid. Walking up to the girl, Yang glared at her hard and got a pout in return. Sucking in a breath, she got on one knee.

"I'm sorry…" Yang said once more with head looking down.

"Say it aga-"

"FOR THIS!" Yang shouted, rising back up fast to give a swift uppercut to the girl's jaw.

It felt oh so sweet to feel that chin crack from her knuckles hitting it with tons of power. By the time the girl hit the ground, she was already knocked out cold.

"Lico?" The crying girl gasped, walking to her downed friend and shaking her. She was still breathing, but she was definitely going to be missing the rest of the day.

"I think we're done here." Yang shrugged, backing up to head to her next class. She rolled her eyes to see that the other girls still weren't moving. "Really?"

"You bitch!" The rejected girl shouted, charging at Yang.

SMACK!

The girl was able smack Yang, which got the others to feel a bit confident too. But Ruby knew what really happened. Yang _let_ that girl get the shot in.

"So you got your hit." Yang said while wiping the spot that stung a little. "So how about-"

"Yaaaaah!"

Apparently, the other girls thought Yang wasn't going to fight back and charged at her. But generosity wasn't that big with Yang and the girls learnt that by either getting knocked out like the other girl or getting real acquainted with the ground via face. In just matter of seconds, the only people left standing in the courtyard was Yang and the girl that got rejected.

"So as I was saying." Yang said while walking away. "We're done here, and go find someone better. Okay? Okay."

After that, the crowd walked off to get on with their lives. But for Ruby, she was going to check on her sister. She needed to know what possessed her to let that girl get the free shot in.

Finding her older sister in the bathroom washing her hands, she saw the pink mark still on her face.

"What's up Rubes?" Yang greeted her while looking in the mirror. "You saw the show?"

"Why'd you let her hit you?" Ruby asked, walking over to see her sister's face closer. "You could have taken her down easy."

"Eh." She shrugged, rubbing at the pink spot until it went away. "She's not a bad girl. She was already having a crummy day. I'm not going to make it worse for her. …Her friend though- she was a piece of work."

"But did you have to let her hit you?" Ruby asked again while staring at her strangely. "I don't get it. You've punched everyone else. What was so different from then?"

After she said that, Yang turned off the faucet to face her sister. There was a serious look in her eyes that held no playfulness in them.

"Listen." Yang said in a stern tone. "I'm not a bully like everyone thinks I am. All those other times, those girls were looking for more than an apology. It's just not their day that I'm the better fighter."

There was a bit of arrogance in her tone when she said that, but she spoke a bit of the truth. Yang was the toughest fighter in all of Signal and everyone knew that. It just didn't stop them from challenging her.

"That other girl though was just looking for an apology." She continued while pointing to the door. "It's not her fault her friends were using her to get into a fight with me. The free shot was to give her something – a little therapy to get over herself. I think it worked, don't you?"

Now that Ruby thought it over, that girl didn't even join in on trying to beat Yang down. She was just watching the whole thing while the rest of her friends fought. Even when Yang left, she didn't even try to go after her when her back was turned.

"So do you think you'll get out early?" Ruby asked, feeling a bit prouder of her sister.

"Probably." Yang shrugged, wiping her hands dry. "Who knows. Maybe I wont even get a detention since it was sort of self defense, right?"

Later that day, Yang and Ruby found out it didn't matter if it was self-defense of not. She'd be staying two hours in school, but at least their uncle decided to cut work and look after Ruby. Best part was, he'd be taking her to a bar that served the best chicken chasers Yang loved. Either way, it's not like Ruby was going to drink any booze – she was already turned off from it just from their uncle's smell alone.

By the time Yang did get home, her little sister was courteous enough to leave her some nice leftovers from her takeout. People would say you are what you eat, and Yang stuck with it since she was having juicy breasts and thighs on the menu.

"Thanks for the meal." Yang said to her sister who was sitting right next to her while she ate.

"Anything for my best sister in the whole world." Ruby said sweetly. She was still over the moon on how awesome she was in school.

"I'm your only sister." The blonde smirked, digging into the breasts first. "Mm-mm! No one cooks a breast better than Jacke's."

While the two sisters sat together in the kitchen, Qrow was in the living room watching the news. It was dull and boring, but the drinker was mostly in it to see a glimpse of Lisa Lavender. The one time he didn't watch her, the purple haired reporter announced wearing a sexy white button up that was a bit translucent because of a failed AC unit on a hot day. If he drunk enough booze, he thought he'd get to see her stripping. So far, he wasn't getting anywhere.

" _-reporting from Mistral is one of Vale's heroes: Taiyang Xiao Long."_ That got him from changing channels. Off in the kitchen, the two girls peeked their heads out to see what their dad was doing on TV. _"Mr. Xiao Long, how goes your time in Mistral? Have you successfully caught any of the rebels?"_

The girls had to hold in their laughter from seeing their dad's current state. He had splotches of paint on his face, his hair had some colorful powder, and if one was to squint hard enough they'd see glitter around his eyes. That didn't stop Qrow from busting a gut on the couch.

" _Hey there Lisa!"_ Tai waved to the camera after a few seconds. _"We were able to catch a few rebels, but no one too important. We've asked them the whereabouts of their camp, but they're lips are sealed."_

As Taiyang showed the rest of the area around him, Ruby noticed the barricaded wall made from planks of wood and some garbage.

" _When I got here, I was shocked to see this wall surrounding all of the kingdom of Mistral."_ Taiyang said while motioning to the barricade. _"The story is that the rebels made this out of the garbage and whatever else they could get their hands on, and piled it up to surround the whole kingdom in just two weeks. Even if the enforcers tried to clean it up, the stuff would just be replaced with a lot more come the next riot."_

It disgusted Ruby to see people treat their kingdom like that. To do such a feat like that meant it wasn't just a small group but something close to an army vandalizing and causing chaos.

" _I see. And how did you obtain your current look?"_ Lisa asked the blonde father.

" _I'll let you take a guess Lisa."_ Tai joked to lighten the mood a bit. _"The people that are rioting have weapons, but all of them are none lethal. Mostly powder-covered hacky sacks and some marbles. Some even went as far to have paintball guns and glitter bombs."_

" _They certainly did a number on you."_ The woman smirked, enjoying her time reporting with a hero of Vale. _"Anyway, that's all the time we have for now. I'll let you get back to getting yourself cleaned."_

" _Thanks."_ He waved before getting cut off.

After watching that, the girls shared a look before giggling at their dad's ridiculous look. He looked like he got caught in a concert that went crazy on the effects.

After that though, the news showed more events on the struggles going around Remnant. It's like no matter what channel they turned to, something was going wrong. Stopping at a new channel though, Ruby instantly stopped her uncle from flipping to the next one. Why? Because it was a different feed that filmed the riot their dad was in.

The way Taiyang described it was tamer than how it looked. People were running and screaming with Mistral police chasing the people in the streets. There were colorful explosions going off all around and a few rebels were shooting paintballs at the cops while carrying some of their injured far away. Then they saw Taiyang fighting a few rebels and attempting to capture them. Then a hacky sack got him in the face before more shots were fired at him.

" _This is Cyril showing you Vale's greatest hero being pummeled in the streets of Mistral."_ A male reported said while showing close ups of Ruby and Yang's dad being shot at.

Qrow even winced when a well placed shot got into his old teammate's mouth and another shot got him straight at the crotch. Aura protected against a lot of things, but the force was always there. Judging by how Tai lost his grip on the rebels to get away, it proved he was in pain.

" _It couldn't be helped though."_ Cyril continued after the pictures and videos were put away. _"Sources have claimed the one to fire at him was none other than the champion of the Outer Circle."_

As the reporter said that, another picture was put up. It was blurry and hard to see, but Mistral's symbol clear to see on someone's retreating back.

" _This was the best picture that could be found of this so called 'champion'."_ Cyril said while enhancing the shot. _'All that can be confirmed so far is that the assailant is male and stands at a tall height approx 5'8". When pursuers gave chase after him, they were blocked off or blinded by comrades who helped in his escape. One witness who saw his face was helpful enough to give this artistic sketch of what he looks like."_

What was plastered next was a sketched picture of the so called champion. He had a chubby face with a toothbrush moustache and had a bad overcomb. Then there was the amount of wrinkles on the face. Whatever vision they had of the guy was killed once the picture was put up.

"So much for my hunky bad-boy." Yang pouted, disappointed in what she was seeing.

"All champions come in shapes and sizes." Qrow muttered, scratching his chin.

To Ruby though, she thought it fit that a bad guy would look like that. Now that people had a face to link to, maybe he could be easily caught. Whoever the anonymous tip came from, she felt they did the world some great justice in bringing this person to the light. There was nowhere left for this champion to hide.

After being pushed off to bed, the little reaper wondered when their dad would be coming home. She also hoped no one saw him being shot at by hacky sacs.

 **Next day**

 **Afterschool**

This was a new thing for Ruby. In all honesty, getting a detention wasn't as bad as people let it out to be. Sure she was bored out of her mind just sitting in a room with other kids, but so what? She was a socially awkward teen who liked to think more than talk. At least she had her big sister with her in this.

The reason they were even in detention was because of the other students making fun of them. That Cyril guy's report on their dad being pelted went viral on the internet and people who knew him – his students and them – thought it was funny and thought it would be funnier to make fun of his kids. Too bad for them, they thought wrong and got the ass end kicking of an ass kicking. But they weren't alone though. The girl that got to slap Yang defended their dad and joined in the fight. It surprised Ruby that she was on their side even when her other friends were against them.

After what felt like hours, Ruby, Yang and their new friend were free to leave to see their uncle was waiting for them at the entrance.

"You go on ahead Rubes." Yang pushed Ruby to Qrow's direction while she stayed to say bye to their friend who's name she still didn't know.

Walking to her uncle, she saw him with his arms crossed while eyeing her.

"I'd expect this stuff from Yang, but not from you Ruby." He shook his head while walking up front. "I thought you were smarter than that."

"In my defense: teenagers do stupid things." Ruby muttered while kicking a bit of imaginary dirt as they walked.

"I'll say." The drinker said while swiping his hair back. "Your form was horrible! That kick was so lousy I had to throw one myself to see a real kick!"

"You're not mad?" The silver-eyed girl said in surprise before she puffed her cheeks in indignation. "And I know how to kick!"

"Keep telling yourself that kid." Qrow muttered before turning back to Ruby. "Nah, I'm mad. But seeing you fight so lousy is pushing it down to get some more training into you."

So much for getting off free.

"I'm going to be leaving in a few weeks, so prepare yourself for Qrow's crash course for dummies." The uncle said while looking down at his niece. "Emphasis on dummies."

As Ruby groaned at the future to come, she didn't know the plans Qrow had in mind. The circles weren't the only things being formed. Hidden in both sides were groups that had their own agendas – and he was looking to bring others into his.

 **END**

 **AN:I know this is shorter than the other one but it's hard to right when all you have is peace going on in the other side. It puts some things into perspective and opens up to more questions that will build up. I'm going to write this stuff in a way that just focusing on one side wont cut it. Like the other story, I hope you kept track on some of the small details because they play a role into these things.**

 **As for the Yang fight scene, I've had something like that happen to me. High school was the worst. I didn't uppercut anyone but I didn't give a 'proper' apology either. I bow to no snob!**

 **Hope you enjoy and review. This is Aloehisja saying goodnight!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY**

 **AN: Hey guys, Aloe back with a Ruby Gaiden.**

 **I just watched Infinity War and my hair exploded into an afro at the ending! The whole theater was even quiet while we waited for the end credits – and they usually clap or chat. Currently downloaded Batman Ninja and waiting for DP2 and Into the Spiderverse.**

 **But enough on me, lets get to the story.**

 **Chapter 2:** Remember My Name

Here she was again, watching her sister from far as she met with more angry boys and girls. This time, she wasn't alone. Newly fourteen year-old Ruby watched as her sister had her new friend, Kailey, to have her back. She didn't know what the group wanted with her sister, but she was going to find out – teenagers loved spouting out how others did them wrong.

"So what's it this time?" Yang hollered with a bored tone. There were three boys and five girls, so chances of a broken heart weren't there. Unless the guys were gay, that was. "Another rejection because of me, or is it some personal vendetta?"

"You're such a bitch!" One of the girls shouted in response. After that, more of the girls started shooting insults until it was incomprehensible.

Yang's friend was about to step up, but the blonde placed a hand to stop her. With a smirk, Xiao Long just raised her hands and pretended she was the conductor to an orchestra that spouted ugly words instead of classical music. After the insults stopped, it was just Yang and her friend snickering at how stupid the girls looked.

"You think you're so high up there." One of the boys said annoyed. "Just cause you got your dad and uncle as teachers doesn't mean you can get away with anything!"

Yang raised a brow and looked to Kailey who stared at her the same way. They muttered to one another of the last detentions they had and the extra hard punishments for beating up on the students.

"You sure you remember things that way?" Kailey shouted to them.

"Shut it, skank!" One of the girls pointed to her. "You're even worse! You're just friends with her to get in good with her dad."

Yang scoffed, knowing that wasn't true. Kailey was her friend for nearly a year now and there was never any special treatments thrown any of their way. Her dad and uncle weren't ones to play favorites, and all her good grades came from her friend tutoring her. Taking a stab, Yang could guess the group were butt hurt since they didn't make the cut in class. It would be a waste to beat on them.

"This is the deal." Yang told the group. "You can either let us walk away from this like nothing ever happened, or me and my gal Kails here will give you all a cheaper shade of blue and purple makeup. Think very hard on your choice."

Lately, Ruby wondered what was it with her sister and trying to solve things by walking away. It always came to the same end result of her getting into a fight.

"Walk away then!" The boys shouted with a sneer. "This'll just show the whole school how you're not all that. Big bad Xiao Long not wanting to fight!"

Looking around them, they saw the crowd hadn't dispersed and felt all eyes and ears on them. "See that, folks? Xiao Long is all special treatment and strings pulled! I bet she sucks off teachers just to get all her good grades. All the others she fought in combat class were probably the bottom tiers too!"

Yang could ignore it, since she's heard it all before but her friend was another story. Kailey was about to turn around and clothesline the guy, but the blonde held her back. Nodding in the other direction, the two left while the group mouthed off to anyone in the crowd that would listen. Ruby watched as her sister and friend went off, but her feet was planted where she stood a she heard the group continue to shout bad things about her sister.

Everything they said about Yang was wrong and the opposite. Her sister worked her butt off studying and training to get where she was. It wasn't her fault she was born pretty or sexy. She didn't even need or use makeup since it'd just smear in combat. Yang was the best in school because she worked hard, and these guys were just jealous. And she just walked away and let these idiots talk badly about her.

"Shut up!" Ruby shouted to the group. Feeling eyes on her, she tried to ignore the nervousness building from the attention and stomped to the guys talking bad about her sister. "You guys don't know anything about Yang! She's strong, and kind, and smart, and she's ten times better than all of you combined! You're all just jealous because none of you are like her."

After speaking her thoughts, she was huffing while the crowd waited for the group to respond.

"Who is this squirt?" One of the guys asked the girls. "Is she one of Yang's fangirls?"

"I don't know." One of the girls scoffed while sizing Ruby up and down. "I think I've seen her a few times around the bitch."

"Like a stalker?" Another guy laughed.

As the group kept talking, Ruby was feeling a pit in her stomach at how they didn't know her. She was Ruby Rose. She was-

"Wait, I think I know her." One of the girls slammed a fist into her palm. "She's supposed to be like, Yang's sister or something. Another daughter of Vale's champions."

"Really?" The guy asked not convinced. "Now that I look at her, she does look like that dead champion. What was her name again?"

Is that all she was remembered as in school? Yang's sister? And was that all her mom was remembered as now? A dead champion? They couldn't even remember her name?! Feeling pressure rising, she was getting mad. Something snapping, she felt her foot reel back and kick the guy in the shins really hard.

After that, it was obvious what was going to happen next. It was eight on one and she didn't have her weapon with her. Not to mention, these guys were two years older than her and she was always bad with hand to hand. They started pushing and shoving her while the girls pulled her hair and slapped her in the face. It was always weird how she could take on Beowolves on her own, but against students she was like a wet noodle.

CRACK!

Ruby fell to the floor when all the pushing stopped. Looking back up, the eyes of the tormenters weren't on her but on someone else. Looking in the direction they were staring, she saw one of the guys laying on the ground far away like a sack of potatoes.

"You guys messed with the wrong sister."

Looking back to the group, she saw Yang was back with Kailey. The other girl was holding the other guy in a headlock while she had an iron grip on the other's shoulder.

"S-she started it." One of the girls stammered, seeing how pissed Yang was with her eyes red.

"I saw." Yang replied, glaring down at Ruby and then back to the group. "But I don't care."

Yang's fist drove it's way into the side of the guys head.

 **Bathroom**

The bathroom door slammed open as Yang dragged Ruby in with Kailey close behind. Ruby was pushed roughly to the sink where Kailey pulled out some wipes from her bag and gave it to Yang.

"What were you thinking?" Yang scolded her sister while she dabbed at the split lip her sister got. Aura could protect, but only if you had the proper control – and Ruby was still mid level with it.

"I just wanted to help you." Ruby said in a shamed tone.

"Rubes. We walked away." Yang shook her head, wetting the wipe and pinching the split lip. "There was no need for a fight."

"But they were mocking you!" She pushed the hand away. "They were saying lies and talking trash. Everyone was listening and you weren't doing anything! Someone had to show them they were wrong!"

Yang's response was to put the wet wipe back on Ruby's lip roughly while Kailey leaned on the door to keep others out. The friend got a feeling this was going to get bad – Yang was losing her gentle side.

"Keep still." She ordered her sister as she continued to care for her.

Hands trembling with frustration, she let go of the wipe and had Ruby hold it herself. Her sister's view of things was laced with good intentions but her way was too naïve. What would punching them solve? Sure, they're in a school for combat, but its combat against Grimm and criminals – not jealous teenagers. It's why she's tried to resolve things by talking first every time.

"Why'd you attack first?" Yang grumbled, looking back to her sister. When Ruby shrunk in herself, she stepped forward and blocked her from any chance of running. "You never attack first until provoked."

"You've attacked first tons of times." Ruby said with a pout while looking down.

"I attacked first because there was no peaceful resolution!" The older sister grabbed her by the cheek to stare at her. "I always gave them a chance to let me or them walk. You've seen me give them that choice every time. Did you think I was just saying those things for no reason?"

She honestly did. Every time Yang gave them that choice, she thought it was just banter before the blonde kicked butt. And every time the fights happened, Yang was always alone or had only Kailey and sometimes her to back her up against numbers that went beyond four students.

"I thought I had to do something." Ruby lied, not really sure why she kicked the guy.

"But you shouldn't have!" Yang yelled in her sister's face. "You just walked up, said some shit, and decided to do what you thought was right. You didn't even think of who you were attacking, what you were going do, or how you'd get out if things got too heavy!"

"Why are you yelling at me?!" Ruby yelled back, almost on the verge of tears. "I was trying to defend you!"

"You got hurt!" She shot back while pointing to the busted lip. "I didn't even need defending. You think the school cares a bunch of failing students are gonna mouth off? Everyone knows they're just clowns trying to act smart. Kailey and me were just fine walking away, but you had to step in. You _had_ to feed those trolls. You _had_ to kick the guy! And _I_ had to run back when I heard they were pushing you around!"

"You didn't have to come back for me!" Ruby shouted back and shoving her, hating being scolded by her.

"Yes, I did!" Yang rebutted back, getting back in Ruby's face. "I'm the older sister. It's my job to make sure you don't get into trouble."

Turning away, Ruby caught Kailey's eyes and saw she was disappointed in her too. It's bad enough she'd embarrassed herself in front of the school, but now her sister was yelling at her with no one to back her up. Having enough, she walked away from Yang and straight to the door.

"Where are you going?" Yang asked, not finished talking to her. "Ruby, you turn back right now!"

When Kailey held an arm to block the door, the younger girl glared at her. Yang's friend didn't glare back, but she had a concerned look while glancing at her and Yang. Roughly pushing Kailey and dashing out the door, Ruby heard Yang yell her name but stayed behind to apologize to her friend. In the halls, students bumped into her as she ran out of school.

 **Summer's Grave**

Whenever she was down or angry, Ruby would always come to her mom's grave. It was nice to talk to someone, even if they were dead. Taiyang and Qrow were still busy being a champion of Vale, and any time they had for them wasn't that long. It was like the more Ruby got older, the less time she had with anyone. Signal used to be fun for her, but now it was like all the people she knew inside changed. And it was getting frustrating how no one would even listen to her but she had to listen to others.

"I don't know why I got mad like that." He told her mom while squatting at her grave. "It just made me mad when they didn't know who we were."

Gripping the grass, she bit her lip remembering what the older kids said. "No, that's not right. I think its mostly because they didn't remember you. You did so much with dad and uncle Qrow, and they just forgot you. They didn't remember your name, or what you looked like, or how amazing you were! It made me so angry how easily forgotten you were to them!"

Nothing came from the grave. There was no wind, or a sense of chill that told Ruby an answer. But for some reason, if Summer were still alive, Ruby would think she'd tell her to not mind the others and make things right. And not just to apologize to her sister and Kailey, but to change herself. Summer would tell her to show the world that she was the bees knees.

"I should go, mom." Ruby touched her mom's grave. "I'm glad we had this time to talk."

Leaving the grave, she walked a few ways before she heard a growl and a snap of a twig. Looking to the source, she saw a Beowulf jumping out at her with mouth open. Zipping away from it, she took Crescent Rose out and aimed. With no mercy, she fired straight at its chest and kept going until it shot the head off. Waiting for more to come out, she relaxed feeling it was over.

Looking at the disintegrating Grimm, she wondered why she couldn't be merciless like that with people? Those bullies in Signal shouldn't have gotten the better of her. So why is it she didn't defend herself?

' _You didn't think.'_

Remembering Yang scolding her, Ruby groaned. Darn it, her sister was right. The little rose didn't think when she went up to those bullies. She had no escape plan, what would happen if things got bad, or who was the first target. When fighting Grimm, she always picked the minor ones first before attacking the larger monsters so they had less support. With people it was a bit different, but the concept was still there. Going in without a plan in mind would get you hurt.

' _I was being a brat.'_ Ruby thought in shame, remembering how she reacted to her sister. She really would need to apologize.

Using her semblance to get home quick, she sighed seeing lights in the house. Her dad was still in Mistral, doing his best to help the others. He said it'd be another month, but he was still getting painted and glittered. Sometimes she wished he never became a hero champion so he'd have more time for them. Stepping to the door, she heard a conversation inside - it was Yang and Kailey. Stepping in, she saw them watching the latest news. It was the union of the Inner and Outer Circle of Mistral.

"Mistral finally has peace?" Ruby asked as she stepped in.

"Oh, hey Rubes." Yang waved at her with Kailey giving a half wave. "Not much of peace yet. You just missed an awesome recording of the two champions fighting in the middle of the streets. It was an honest old school duel."

"It's more like an alliance towards peace." Kailey supplied. She didn't hold anything against Ruby for pushing her, but Ruby felt awkward by how she could brush off what happened.

Taking a seat on the lazy-boy, she swallowed whatever was in her throat and apologized to the two. They were quiet through her whole speech, but it made her feel more awkward since she was expecting some snark she may have deserved.

"You're my sister, so of course I'd forgive you." Yang shrugged. Turning to her friend, she nudged her. "What's your take Kailes? She apologized enough?"

"I've learnt to let go of grudges." She replied nonchalantly. Hearing Yang hold back a laugh, she added to her statement. "In the span of three seconds."

"Still." The older sister turned back to her Ruby. "It's a bit unlike you to lash out like that. What got you mad?"

Lying to Yang wasn't going to get any of them anywhere, so Ruby told the truth. She told them of how they belittled the memory of Summer Rose and how they didn't even know her. Yang swore under her breath after Ruby finished. The blonde was always remembered as the daughter of a traitor, but no one could remember the greatest woman in their lives? If she was mad because those bullies messed with her sister, she was pissed now. If she could turn back time, she'd grind those idiots faces into the concrete until it was just her palms touching the ground.

Calming down, the three girls decided to get started on their homework and any other tests they had coming. When it was close to ten, Qrow was back and Kailey left.

 **School – Next Day**

When Ruby and Yang got to school early, they saw a bunch students in the hall crowding a bulletin board. Meeting up with Kailey close to the board, there was an announcement of a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of them. Beacon was hosting a program in Vale to search for those with the highest potential. It was going to be a tournament to happen in a year.

Yang and Kailey thought this was a good opportunity. In that time, they'd be in their final year of Signal and could have that assured shot into Beacon. If they impressed the judges enough that is. For Ruby, she saw it as something else. It was a chance to show the world who she really was.

"Looks like we've got a long year, guys." Yang smirked, pulling the two close to her.

"Keep dreaming Xiao Long." A student in the crowd huffed, overhearing her. "With this tournament happening, the rest of us will prove who's the top dog of Signal. No daddy or uncle to stop us from holding back on you."

The blonde ignored him though. The other students would try to bait her, but it wouldn't do them anything. Leaving with the two, they were far away from the rest of the students. Passing some of Kailey's ex-friends, the girl wondered why she was friends with them in the first place.

"You planning on entering too, right Kailes?" Yang asked her.

"It's always been my plan to get into Beacon." She replied. "I'd be the first huntress in my family."

"We'll definitely help you get there." Ruby pumped a fist. "With me and Yang helping you, and you helping us in our studies, there's no way Beacon will ignore you."

"You're entering the tournament too, Rubes?" Yang asked in surprise.

"Yup!" She said with pure determination. "I'm going to show them all what I've got."

"Then it's settled." The older sister clapped her hands. "The three of us will enter and we'll kick so much ass."

Ruby made a roar to show she was pumped, but it was more adorable to the two that she ended up in a girl sandwich.

 **Ten months to tournament**

 **Patch**

Training went by fast for the three friends. With Kailey's help, the siblings were able to keep their grades up while focusing on their drills. And the two helped her in training her to be as good as Yang. Their friend wasn't as well off as others being from a civilian family, so all she had going for her was the regular pistols and a retractable taser baton. It's not like it was bad, but compared to what others brought to the party, she would be underestimated. It didn't stop them though. With Yang's help, she was able to come up with her own version of gun-kata and hand to hand.

As the three practiced in the yard, they heard a bike pull up as Taiyang returned.

"Dad!" Ruby zipped to her old man. When she bumped into his chest, both fell to the floor.

"I missed you too, sweetie." He groaned, getting up and massaging his chest.

"Sup, pops." Yang waved, pausing her spar with Kailey.

"Hey." He waved back to her and acknowledged her friend. "I see you guys are training."

"That's right." She pumped a bicep. "We're setting up to take Beacon."

"Are you finally staying for good?" Ruby asked with eyes sparkling. She really did miss him.

When he didn't smile and rubbed her head, she could guess it was a no.

"I'm sorry, girls." He sighed, not liking it himself. "You guys know how it is. I wanna stay with you too, but we need the income to put money in the bank and food on the table."

"But-"

"This is the last one. I swear." The dad promised the two. "After this thing with Mistral, it's going to be me and you guys all the way. No more going away, I'm putting my foot down with Oz and retiring for good."

His promise didn't make them feel any better. He know why too. He was gone for a long time and barely got into contact with them since Mistral's connection to the Inner Circle was limited. Only places like Beacon had the good stuff for contacting the school in Haven. Plus the stuff there was pretty outdated compared to the stuff they had here.

"Hey." He tried to cheer them up. "I got some presents for you guys. I'm not sure if you'll like any of the stuff there, but I'm sure you can appreciate it."

Pulling some boxes out, he got some outfits he thought they might like and some knick knacks to put in their room. Yang was doing her best to smile, but it was Ruby that was looking down.

"How long are you staying?" She asked him, putting down a dog carving.

Sighing, Taiyang knew gifts wouldn't really work that much. Next to him, Qrow was the only member left, and Ozpin's been sending him to places too. With just his two girls in the house, he'd understand them wishing he'd stay longer.

"I don't know." He answered. "It took me almost yelling at Ozpin to let me come back get here. There's peace in Mistral and the people aren't fighting anymore, but the council are a bit weary."

"What was it like there?" Yang asked, wanting to step away from politics. "The TV kept showing stuff like chaos and police, but it cant be all bad."

Taiyang liked that about his oldest. Unlike Raven, Yang saw good and was open to everything. And like him, she got a thirst for adventure and new horizons. Putting the box of knick knacks down, he shared of all the nice scenery he saw while in Mistral. He promised he'd take them there someday, but only when things settled down there for good.

When Ruby asked about Pyrrha, Taiyang shared how she was Yang's age. The girl wasn't really into taking a picture with him, but he guessed it was because of how it would've looked. If someone almost twice his age asked to take a selfie with him, he'd be a bit creeped out too. Their friend asked about the Outer Circle champion, but Tai didn't know much on the guy yet. Last he saw, it was a kid same age as Pyrrha and Yang lying in a hospital bed with a bullet wound. After that, he stayed in Haven trying to get his contact with Ozpin to get home.

"I think I'm just going to stay home for a few days before going to class." Tai told his girls. "With all the stuff I had to do and the travel, I'm going to be suffering form jetlag soon."

"You take your rest dad, and we'll be in the yard training." Yang patted him on the shoulder.

Dragging the two outside, Ruby spared her dad one last look as he laid on the couch to nap. Closing the door gently, she went to join Kailey and Yang.

"Is it always like this with huntsmen parents?" Their friend asked in concern. "I know Mr. Taiyang is our teacher and a hero, but he was gone for a long time."

"It used to be shorter." Ruby answered with a sad tone. "Back then he'd only be gone for at least a week, but then his missions kept getting longer."

"Maybe he'd be here longer." Yang tried to cheer the younger girl up. "With Mistral going into peace, it's not like they'd just call him for another backup. Think on it, Rubes."

Agreeing slightly, the three went back to focusing on their training. Yang was the best, but everyone else was going to be gunning for that spot.

 **Ten Days Before the Tournament**

 **Patch**

Yang was right about their dad staying for a long time. After he got back, he as able to stay for their birthdays, help them with their homework and training, and even let Kailey sleepover. It was all turning out great – and he even said he'd be in the stands cheering for the two when the tournament began. As Ruby laid sleeping, a thump woke her up in the middle of the night. Getting up, she heard her sister talking outside in the hall. Getting up, she peeked through the door to see what was going on.

"-promised us you'd stay for the tournament." She heard Yang talk in an angry tone.

"I know, but I was called." Taiyang said a little frustrated. "Ozpin wants me and Qrow in Mistral, and he said it's a big emergency."

"Why cant it just be Qrow?" She asked, wanting him to stay. "Why do you guys even listen to the guy? It's not like he's your boss or something."

"Yang… I." Their dad sighed, not knowing what to tell her. "You'll understand when you're older. This is something that hunters have to do, okay? It's one of our duties."

"To leave and never see family for nearly months?" Yang shouted. "This isn't just for me, you know. Ruby misses you a lot. She was hoping you'd be there to cheer her in the tournament."

"And I wanted to go!" He shouted, having enough of his daughter's attitude. "I wanted to be there watching you guys all the way, but this is work! We all have to make sacrifices and do things we don't like! If you wanna be a huntress, then you're going to have to suck it up and deal with that part of reality!"

"Well maybe I don't wanna be a huntress anymore!" Yang shouted with tears in her eyes, running to her room and slamming the door.

Ruby winced when she heard her sister slam the door hard. Peeking into the hall, she saw her dad was angry and hurt. Next to him was a rolling bag she knew was full of clothes and whatever else he needed for a trip.

"Ruby, you can come out." He said, making her voice hitch. "I know you're awake."

Stepping out slowly, the little reaper gulped wondering if he was going to be mad with her too. Trembling a bit, she flinched when he stepped forward and put his hand on her head.

"I'm sorry, kiddo." He sighed, showing grief in his voice as he knelt to her level. "If I could have my way, I'd never leave you two alone. But my hands are tied in this. There's just so much going on that you two don't know."

"Dad?"

"One day, I'll tell you everything." He hugged her tightly. "I swear it."

"This is the last one, right?" She asked, hugging him back. "After this, it's just us three and uncle Qrow?"

Taiyang paused a breath. "I'm not sure about your uncle, but it's definitely just going to be just us three."

"…I love you, dad." She whispered in his ear.

"I love you girls too." Getting up, he wiped what was a tear from his eye and ushered her back to bed. When she left, he turned to his oldest daughter's door. "I can't leave them like this."

 **Yang's Room**

Opening the door slowly, Tai saw his little dragon was still awake and brooding. She wasn't looking at him, but she wasn't shouting for him to get out either – so he guessed it was okay to come in. Taking a seat next to her, she crossed her arms and made sure to turn her head away from him. If it wasn't so serious, he'd laugh from the idea of karma coming back to bite him. Now he knew what his dad went through.

"You wanna talk?" He asked her. She huffed through her nose, which meant he should start. "I am sorry, sweetie. And me going away doesn't mean I don't want to stay with you girls. It's the opposite. I'd rather stay with you two than go away."

"Then just stay." She said as if it was simple. "Let some other guy go in your place. You're not the only hunter out there."

"I wish I could do that." He ran a hand through his hair. "But right now, I can't."

"Why?" The blonde daughter asked. "All my other classmates have at least one parent to show up to their stuff. Uncle Qrow rarely shows up, and when he does he's nearly late. Why can't you stay like the other parents?"

"…Maybe because I'm not a good one." He sighed, looking down in shame. He honestly didn't know he'd missed so much with them. "I'd like to be the super-dad that could be there for everything, but I can't."

Moving closer to his daughter, he put an arm around her. "I'm sorry I'm never around enough. I'm sorry you both had to go through things without me there. And if you guys ever had doubt I loved you, I'm sorry for making you feel that way."

Feeling her arms wrap around his torso, he felt a bit better.

"You're not a bad dad." She said into his chest. "I just don't want you to go."

They sat there in silence just father and daughter holding onto each other. Her words hurt, but they were a truth he needed to hear.

"Do you really not want to be a huntress anymore?" He asked when she let go. He was fine with whatever she wanted, but for all her life, Tai always thought Yang was the one to be the greatest huntress.

"I don't know anymore, dad." She said while looking at her knees. "Everything about the huntress life just feels like a burden to me."

"A burden?"

"It is!" She said with a lot of emotion. "Summer was a huntress, and I lost her. You're a hunter and I barely get to see you. I'm in a school for hunters in training and they all hate me. My real mom was a huntress, and because of her the adults hate me. …Everything related to hunters just ruins my life."

"So what do you want to do with your life?" He asked her. His question must've shocked her because her hair whipped him in the face form how fast she turned.

"You're not mad at me or hate me?" She asked with lower lip almost trembling.

"I could never hate you." Tai replied with deep sincerity. "And why should I be mad at you for wanting to do something else with your life. If you don't want to be a huntress, then I'll support you in whatever you want. …Except being a lawyer! I swear, if you become one, I am disowning you and keeping Ruby far away from wherever you are!"

Yang laughed at the idea of _her_ being a lawyer. Maybe being a huntress wasn't for her, but at least she knew she could beat down the rest in her class.

"I'm serious about the lawyer thing, little lady." He warned her. "I even suspect you going to law school, and I'm going to-"

"Get out of here, pops." She shooed him out her room. "Go finish whatever it is you're going to do fast and come back to help me cheer Ruby and Kailey on."

A few days later, Yang and Ruby heard news that their dad and uncle were going to be in court against the champions of Mistral for Anima's independence. The trial was going to be a week after the start of Beacon's tournament, so it was clear that he wouldn't be able to make it.

 **Vale City – Amity Coliseum**

When Beacon said they'd host a tournament, Ruby thought it'd be in the school itself in one of their training rings. She was not expecting to be in _the_ floating coliseum. They three traveled to Vale with the rest of Signal's students, and a lot of them were disappointed Yang was sitting out the tournament. Ruby was a bit sad Yang wouldn't be participating, but the blonde encouraged her to show the world who Ruby Rose was. As for Kailey, she was nervous but ready to head to the top with the training Yang and Ruby gave her.

"This is it you two." Yang told her sister and best friend.

"There's my mom and dad." The girl pointed to a crowd where true to her word, the sisters saw Kailey's parents waving at them. "I'll meet up with you guys later. They probably want to catch up."

"Take care." Ruby waved to her as she ran to her family. Looking at her go, she felt a bit sad her dad wouldn't be there to cheer her on.

Seeing her expression, Yang pulled her sister aside for some one on one pep talk.

"You ready for this, Rubes?" Yang asked her sister while eyeing her seriously.

"I-I think I am?" She received a tap on the head for her weak response.

"You got this." The older sister tried to get her pumped. "Come on, Rubes. This is your time to shine!"

"Its my time to shine." The little sister repeated.

"Who's time is it to shine?!" The blonde's eyes burned with passion.

"My time!" Ruby said, voice rising with passion.

"Who's time is it to fight?!" Yang shouted in Ruby's face.

"My time!" Ruby locked eyes with her sister.

"Who's time is it?!" She butted heads.

"My time!" Heart pumping, Ruby let out a wild roar that got others staring at her.

Feeling embarrassed after realizing she was being a spectacle, she covered her face in Yang's chest while lightly kicking her sister for pumping her too much. Off to the side, Kailey held off on introducing her friends to her parents.

"There, there." Yang patted Ruby's head. When she got a low growl, she chuckled. "Now you're really ready for your fight."

 **END**

 **AN: Time to get fighting next chapter! This chapter was for character building.**

 **I know this chapter felt like Yang was overshadowing Ruby, and I did that on purpose. Does this mean Ruby has an inferiority complex? Maybe. Will it cause troubles later in the story? It wouldn't be a story if there was no inner conflict. It's not going to be like the Jaune Gaiden where Ruby is in politics and freedom. She's facing her own titles and demons.**

 **This chapter would've come out sooner, but servers went down, my computer is going on the slow fritz, and I kept trying to rewrite a lot of stuff in this chapter. Almost added a scene where Ruby caught Yang and her friend kissing on the couch – but what would that do besides fanservice?**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter is fight time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY**

 **AN: Weird how this isn't getting that much views. Then again, most of you subscribers are following Plus J since it was the first. To you guys that gave this a chance and are sticking by it – thank you, you will not regret it. Think of this like following the MCU. It all converges into one story. THAT'S RIGHT! After this ends, I'm putting one more gaiden before it clashes into one story where all characters meet into a possibly 30+ chapter story. I'll have you guys take a guess on who the last focus on the gaiden will be.**

 **For now, let's get to the story.**

 **Chapter 3:** Ballroom Blitz

Sitting in the locker room with just about every other student, Ruby was nervous. Kailey was put into another section and Yang wasn't allowed inside since she wasn't a competitor. Looking around her, she saw everyone else was taller than her and was oozing confidence.

"Greetings, young candidates!" A fat man barged in. When he scanned the area, his eyes locked on her and he waved. "Ruby Rose? Is that you? What a s nice surprise seeing you here! You're father would be proud if he wasn't in Mistral at the moment."

Ruby didn't know who the man was, but he had put all the fighters attention on her! There were whispers of her being targeted first, while others still tried to figure out who she was.

"Shame your sister Yang decided to not enter." And now the fat man dug her grave when the students recognized her sister's name. She could see them now, plotting to beat her up in Yang's place.

' _That's loser talk! Kick ass!'_ Her conscience yelled at her, sounding oddly like Yang. Looking up and glaring back at the competition, she saw a few waver. _'Thata girl. Now give the cute guy on the left a saucy wink and then-'_

Shaking off the rest of her inner Yang, Ruby looked back to the fat guy to see he was almost done talking. "Now all of you head to the stadium now."

Looking around to see others leaving, Ruby was quick to follow. The fat guy gave her a thumbs up on her way out and she decided to be nice and nod. Following the others to the stadium, she could hear the crowd waiting for them cheer as the fighters stepped out. Looking around, she couldn't find her sister, but she knew she was somewhere close to see the action.

" _All fighters stand in the center of the ring."_ The intercom instructed them.

Doing as told, Ruby looked to see she was up against twenty-nine fighters with different weapons. Anticipating the start of a bell or any signal, she along with the others were not expecting the ring to suddenly start spinning rapidly. Once it stopped and Ruby could focus her eyes, she saw something else to fight besides the others.

They were big, scary, and proof of Atlas being mad geniuses. Ten Atlas Knight Prototypes stood fifteen feet tall at the edge of the ring. They were facing the fighters, and if Ruby could guess, they were just there to make things harder.

" _Don't be surprised, folks."_ The announcer spoke. _"The list for candidates wanting to join was too high, we had to create this to weed out the unprepared ad trim down the numbers. Beacon accepts only the best and the cream of the crop. First five to survive against the knights and each other get to proceed to the 1v1 elimination rounds."_

The young students all huddled together, staring at the large giants pointing their swords at them. When no one moved or attacked, the announcer came back on. _"What are you guys waiting for? FIGHT!"_

Head snapping into the game, Ruby was quick to zip far away from the crowd of fighters but smart not to get too close to the knights. Weapon still in compact mode, she fired a few shots at the others still huddled together to dwindle the numbers. Some of them chose to stay in a group to heighten their odds, but she was either going solo or going home on this!

Hearing the crowd shouting and something moving behind her, she ducked in time when a giant sword swung at her. The knights weren't just big, but fast too. When it tried to stomp at her, she was quick to jump to the side and away from it. She could put her attention on fighting it, but there were more of them and a lot of students that could attack her if she wasn't paying attention. Ducking another swing of the sword, she felt lucky when it hit a few students trying to flank her.

" _And it looks like we've lost the first five."_ The announcer shouted, graying a few pictures on the screen. _"This is turning out to be a quick show people. Looks like none of these students are ready for Beacon yet."_

What the announcer said made Ruby angry. She was ready! She trained her butt off and endured tons of bruises and hits for this day. Opening her weapon into scythe mode, she twirled and swung at a few students charging at her. Zipping to the next group huddled together, she swung at them too and knocked all four of them down making it ten people in total. She was showing them now what she was made of! She was Summer's daughter – the badass Ruby Ro-

Blam!

The little reaper was on her knees by a shot to the back. Turning to the shooter, it was a senior of Signal. Specifically, one of the guys that was pushing Ruby around all those months ago. He got her with a dust revolver. Getting up, she was shot from the other side by someone else. This person she didn't know, but from the looks of things, she was being targeted.

In the stands, Yang was biting her lower lip at seeing her sister being turned into a sitting duck. The fighters were scared of her now and wanted her out of the picture. Clenching her fist, she wished hadn't dropped out of the tournament if only to make sure this didn't happen. Ruby didn't have anyone to watch her back now, and the brawler could do nothing but shout with the rest of the crowd.

"You can do this, Ruby." She muttered under her breather, tapping into the ground with such force.

Back in the stadium, Ruby was doing her best to have a three sixty scope of the whole area. A lot of them were firing at the same time, and it made trying to move hard. Using her scythe to shield some of the bullets, she missed it when one of her attackers was slammed out of the ring by a knight.

" _Ooh! Should've kept moving."_ The announcer commented. _"Right now we're down to the final six. And from the looks of things, it's turning into a 1 with the little girl in red fighting solo."_

She was in the final six? Ruby was close to cheering but remembered where she was. It wasn't over yet, and there were still five people and a lot of robots trying to take her out. The last five were students from Signal and some other school, but they were working together to keep the knights far away from them and the attention on her. And with her all alone, she had six of those big bad knights moving her way. Obviously, going after who they thought was the weakest link - her.

Too bad she was anything but weak.

Zipping around those knights, she used the shots from her sniper rifle to propel her midair in any direction she wanted. She was like a fly buzzing around a bunch of meatheads trying to swat her. Landing on the arm of one, she waited for anyone to attack and jumped off to dodge bullets and the swipe of a sword that cut the arm off the knight. The crowd was cheering at her display, and she wasn't done yet. With the fallen arm down, it was a shield against the others shooting at her but she still had the nights to worry about.

Doing a quick scan, she found a pattern to get close to them. She just had to time it right and make sure she did the proper maneuvers. It was a jump on the dead arm into the air, ride the recoil of a shot to flank left, jump onto one of the knight's foot, and get to the head so she could get a clear shot from behind it's head. After that, she would aerial dive and knock the block off that Signal senior.

"Yeah, that should do that trick." She muttered to herself, getting ready to put her plan in action.

Jumping into the air, she dodged a bullet and fired a shot to recoil her to the left. Instead of landing on a knight's foot as planned, she landed in front of it just as it was about to step on her.

"Yipes!" She flinched, jumping forward and continuing to do so when it tried once more to step on her. This went on for a lot longer until she was almost ten feet away from the other fighters.

With weapons trained on her, and Ruby stuck between a rock and a hard place, she chose to do something she was always iffy with – winging it. Jumping on the knight's foot, she dodged shots from the others while trying to climb to the top. In thought, it felt easier to reach the knight's head. Unlike her plan, she forgot to account for the knight putting up resistance. Added with bullets whizzing by her, she was not having a good time.

Losing footing, she almost slipped on the shoulder but caught onto the knight's neck with her scythe. Swinging to avoid the bullets still firing at her, she didn't plan on decapitating the thing and falling on her rump. Rubbing her sore tailbone, she looked up to see five guns trained on her. Raising her hands in the air, she was close to surrendering when she heard the dead metal giant lurch forward. Using her semblance to roll out of the way, she avoided being crushed. The other's weren't fast enough like her when tons of metal dropped on them.

The audience was silent as they waited for something to happen. So far it was just Ruby in the ring with a few of the knights just standing frozen. Then the announcer came back on.

" _A-amazing!"_ He shouted in a surprised screech. _"This is a great surprise! Instead of getting five competitors, we only have one!"_

The audience slowly started clapping before they just went to full blown cheering. Yang was whistling at Ruby's win. It wasn't one of the classiest wins, but she did show some skill. It wasn't like she didn't have any skills to show. All those shots she dodged weren't just pure luck. Ruby had a knack for knowing things all around her. Just make sure she wasn't too focused on one thing and she was untouchable.

" _What's that?"_ The announcer asked someone in his booth. Hearing a few whispers, the audience heard him gasp _. "Ladies and gentlemen! The winner for this round and automatically going into the finals is none other than Taiyang's youngest daughter: RUBY ROSE! It looks like we're in the presence of a prodigy!"_

That was a title Ruby thought she'd never hear of herself. Kick butt is one thing, but a prodigy? Looking at the audience and not knowing what else to do, she bowed. Leaving the arena, she went to go find Kailey and Yang.

 **Locker Room**

"There she is." Kailey went to give Ruby a high five. "How's the newest prodigy to get into Beacon doing?"

"I'm not getting in yet." Ruby blushed at the compliment, raising her hand to give the high five. After her hand was smacked, she put it behind her to shake off the sting. "I still need two years at Signal before I get in."

"Where's the newest prodigy!" Yang barged into the lockers, disregarding the rules. Finding Ruby and Kailey together, she was quick to bury her sister's head between her chest. "I knew you could do it. You were scaring me halfway through, but in the end you did it!"

Ruby couldn't speak since her mouth was full of cloth and boob. Pushing away from Yang, she gasped from finally getting some fresh locker room air. Never before had the smell of sweat and whatever it was that made locker rooms stink smell so lively.

"I'll be seeing you in the finals Kailes." Ruby looked to their friend. "Beacon needs huntresses like you in the field."

Nodding, Kailey fixed her handguns and shock baton. She was the closest friend to the two sisters, and it sometimes felt like she was the third sister they never had. She was a good friend for life, and that was something no one could find around any corner. When she started hanging out with Yang, Ruby was a bit suspicious of the dark bluenette, but that was in the past. She was a good friend, and nothing would stop that.

"No one's expecting you to do a Ruby and drop knights on your opponents." Yang massaged her shoulders, making the girl laugh. "Just go in, fight smart like you do, survive, and come back here so we can party it up."

"Yang, I got this." She replied, rolling her shoulders. Eyeing the competition, she sent a sneer their way when some glared at her. "I've got a lot riding on this, just like Ruby does. It's either go in big, or just go home."

"That's my girl." Yang slapped her on the back. Turning to the exit, she was about to leave but had one more thing to say. "And Kailes. You're looking real cool now."

Blushing, Kailey holstered her weapons and pocketed her baton. Turning to Ruby, the bluenette nodded. She was planning to see Ruby in the finals.

"Go get'em, champ." Ruby punched her arm lightly. "I'll be in the stands with Yang to see your fight."

"Thanks Ruby." Kailey whispered, taking a seat on the bench. Watching Ruby leave, she closed her eyes to concentrate on not throwing up. She could save it for a projectile attack, but being remembered as Puke Face wasn't something she'd want to be known for if she got into Beacon.

 **Minutes later**

"Wooh! Go Kailes!" Yang cheered as she saw her friend take on everything coming at her.

Their friend was shocking and shooting whatever came into her sights. No bullet was wasted, and she wasn't charging into the fray like they would. She was smart, good at forming short alliances, and good at stepping away when things got too big for her. And most of all: she had skills for days.

"Look at her twirl!" Ruby shook the chair in front of her, disregarding the person sitting. When the baton user jumped in the air and twirled with pistols out to do a seven-twenty shooting, Ruby was squealing in joy. "I taught her that move!"

Their friend was currently part of the last seven still standing. Funny enough, things went by fast since a lot of the fighters in the arena thought to copy Ruby's stunt. Some of them still haven't mastered their semblance, so it was a suicide attempt on their part when the knights just swatted them away. Although, it made Ruby wonder what went through their heads. If the first ten couldn't take down a knight on their own charging in, what made them think they could do it? They didn't even change the way to do it. They just attempted to run, then jump, and hope to scale the giants to knock their heads off. None of them even made it past the very first step: getting close to the knights.

Sure, she did it out of desperation and a different plan in mind, but if it didn't work the first time then she would've thought of a new and better plan. It was like they were going to keep trying it the same way until someone got it right.

Focusing back on the fight, Ruby saw it was down to six when one of the fighters betrayed their teammate. And what a sleazy thing to do, shooting a partner when their back was turned. It looks like they were getting desperate now. The knight's were still moving, and six fighters were just shy one person away from getting into the 1v1 match. Focusing on Kailey, she had her guard up and was waiting for someone to make the first move.

The blue haired baton user was steering clear from all of them. Alliances were now done, and the ones standing were her, and all these backstabbers. It wasn't even an insult and more of an astute observation – the five fighters she was up against each had their own alliances and partners that they pushed into fire, shot in the back, and used as shields to stay standing. Seeing two stepping her way, she gave off shots to their chests to keep them far away from her. She had them all in her sights, and none of them were going to take her down. When two more tried to flank her, she back flipped out of the way and let the two crash into each other. After landing, she soon backed up more seeing the guy choking the girl. Looks like they were taking anyone down.

"Damn!" Yang shouted in the stands. When the girl went limp, there was a buzzer signaling the end of the match.

" _And that's the end of the match folks, with Brisk Cares choking out Nina Shaine!"_ The announcer shouted. _"We've got our five competitors to go one on one against each other. We have: Brisk Cares, Ivan Stain, Kailey Spills, Rusty Simons, and Winston Drips. To make things fair, they will be given half an hour to rest up. To those in the audience, it's a chance to meet up if you're friends or family with the contestants - also a chance to get some snacks before the main fights begin."_

After that, ads started showing. Some of it was propaganda for some guy named Harmon Odyssey, but most were Vale and Atlas commercials for new products and schools. Getting up from their seats, the two girls went to go in different directions. Ruby was going to get some snacks for later since she was already confirmed for the finals. Yang was off to congratulate Kailey in the locker rooms.

Thinking it over, Ruby wondered what would happen if she had to fight Kailey in the finals? Her friend wasn't a slouch like the rest of the others in Signal. The match she was in showed she had the skills to be in Beacon. Sure she took a few shots and her stamina wasn't that high, but she had heart and attitude to back up her skills. And most of all, she had-

"Oof!" Ruby bumped into someone going to the snack bar. Looking up, she saw it was a civilian. "Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention."

"No problem." The man waved off, only glancing back slightly.

Peeking in front of the man, the little reaper squinted seeing a very long line. "Excuse me, sir. What's this line for?"

"This? It's the line for the snack bar."

This was insane in Ruby's opinion. What kind of place was this that had a really long line to the snack bar? This was Amity Coliseum, right? Shouldn't it have more than one snack bar? Oh look! There were six more lines, meaning it did have more than one. She was just way back! What was next, there was only two bathrooms for each gender and they were on opposite sides of the structure?

After close to fifteen minutes, Ruby was about to reach the front of the booth to buy some cookies and a sweet drink. Then she heard screaming and people clamoring to head back to the arena. Ignoring them, she got her goods and took a casual walk to the stands. She didn't see Yang, but she assumed she was giving Kailey some advice and pumping her up for the 1v1 fights. Knowing Yang, she was a great motivator in getting anyone going.

" _Ladies and gentlemen! This crazy blonde girl is pummeling all the fighters!"_ The speaker blared as Ruby got close to the stands.

Dropping her stuff, Ruby ran close to the rings and saw in the monitors Yang was in the arena beating up three of the fighters. She was mad as shown by her red eyes, and her hair was on fire. Looking at her fight, she wasn't going for any merciful and quick end. She was making sure to hurt them bad. When the aura of the three was put on display, Ruby thought she'd stop when one of them was in the red. But Yang didn't stop until the guy was left with a broken jaw and a bleeding nose.

"You wanted this?!" Yang shouted over the guy's unconscious body.

Looking to the other two, she roared in their direction and invited them to come at her. When they took a step back, she took a step forward – with a hard stomp on the unconscious guy's chest. Charging forward with a shotgun blast, she grabbed one of the fighters by the head and slammed his head into the ground. To make it worse, she buried his head into the hard concrete neck deep and left him there. The last fighter was trembling on his knees whispering apologies to her, but Yang wasn't hearing any of it.

She was going for blood. Raising a fist, she was going to knock this guy's head off but was stopped by someone tackling her to the ground.

"Yang, stop!" Ruby latched onto her sister's arm. "You don't wanna do this!"

Struggling to get Ruby off her, the two sisters ended up rolling on the ground. Ruby tried to put her sister in an arm lock, but her grappling skills weren't as good as Kailey or Yang's. In the end, it ended with her sitting on Yang's back an arm pulled back.

"Stay out of this Ruby." Yang growled, trying to shake her sister off her arm. With the other arm, she was trying to pull her way to the guy trying to get away." Shit! He's gonna get away! You don't know what this is about."

"Yang, please." Ruby pleaded, digging her nails into Yang's arm when she felt it slipping. "Think about Kailey."

" _It looks like Ruby Rose has entered the fight."_ The announcer stated the obvious. Why was he commentating on something this serious instead of calling the police? Ignoring him, Ruby focused on the matter at hand – her unhinged sister.

When her grip slipped, Yang bucked her off and was quick to her feet. Taking Ruby by the hood, she tossed her to the edge of the arena away from her. When Ruby landed, she a gunshot and saw her older sister sailing to nail the last fighter in the face. She wasn't quick enough to intercept as Yang knocked three teeth out. It didn't stop there. She continued to hammer into the boy even when he tried to cover his bleeding face. With one mean left hook, the boy flew back and skidded on the floor with a few hard rolls. He was still conscious, but he was broken and scared now.

"You're gonna get what you owe." Yang snarled at the whimpering boy. Even when he was trying to crawl away, Yang was just stomping towards him like the inevitable death.

"Yang! That's enough!" Ruby tried once more to reason with her. "You've beaten them. It's time to stop!"

"Shut up, Ruby!" The blonde shouted, not looking away from her target. Grabbing the guy off the floor by his ankle, she effortlessly raised him high in the air and slammed him hard on the ground.

As Ruby watched this, she shut her eyes but couldn't unheard the boy's cry of pain and plead for mercy and help. She knew what she had to do, but her heart wasn't in it. Hearing the audience screaming, she peeked her eyes open once more to see if it was almost over. It was just close to finishing in a very bad way. Yang was going to kill the guy by snapping his neck!

Resolve now firm, she didn't hesitate when she took fire at her own sister. Shooting her in the back, Ruby felt pain for doing this to her own sister. She was her hero, the one she looked up to, and now she was forced to hurt her. But what hurt, was the shock and disbelief on Yang's face on who shot her.

"I'm sorry." Ruby whispered, unloading shot after shot onto Yang.

She knew Yang's semblance, and she knew she could tank a lot of hits. She was able to push her back, but the brawler was still standing firm and trying to step towards the victim on the floor. After the first five didn't put her down, Ruby got out something else. It was meant for the finals, but it looked like there'd be none. Loading the lightning cartridge into her rifle, she aimed for Yang's heart and fired.

When Yang's aura fell and the shot electrified her, Ruby was quick to zip in and hit her with the blunt side of her scythe. With everyone in the ring unconscious but her, she stood alone even as the crowd continued to shout and chatter around her. Looking at her sister's unconscious body, she felt huge guilt at doing this to her. And when the police arrived to take her in, she was crushed that she couldn't follow. Reporters came to interview her, but she pushed them aside to be alone.

Then the ambulances came moments later to take the injured fighters. The stadium had a medical bay, but all of the fighters had horrible injuries. Not seeing Kailey during the whole event, Ruby tried to find her to see if she was okay. Yang was a hothead, but she wasn't that bad that she couldn't distinguish friend from foe. Maybe her friend could tell her what happened.

"Kailey! Kailey!" She shouted, scanning the whole place for her friend.

Ruby soon found her, but not in the best conditions. The bluenette was being carried on a stretcher into the transport. Asking the medics and her parents, Ruby was allowed to ride in the back with her to the hospital.

 **On the way to the hospital**

Her friend was badly bruised. There was a busted and swollen lip, her eye's were swollen and purple, and her nose was bent in a bad way. There was no sheets covering her body, so she could see some of the bruises on the bluenette's torso and arms. There were purple patches, but the worst was her hands- her fingers were dislocated and looked crushed. Ruby didn't want to believe this was Yang's doing, but after seeing how berserk she went, Ruby didn't know what to believe. Maybe Kailey and the others said something that set something off with Yang. Maybe Yang was just high strung and was trying to bottle it all up, but it all poured out. The only one that had the answers were Yang and Kailey, and the latter wasn't in any condition to talk.

Looking at her face once more, Ruby moved closer seeing her friend's eye twitch. When it opened a small crack and looked in her direction, she sighed in relief seeing she was going to be okay. Then she closed her eye making her worry again.

"R-Rubes." Her friend croaked with eyes still closed. She was in a lot of pain, and being still didn't make it better.

"Kailes." The little reaper gasped. "Kailes, what happened? Why'd-"

"Y-yang." She tried to speak. "Help… me."

"What?" Was Kailey asking her help for Yang? Did she mean save her from Yang?

"Am…bush." Kailey tried to get words out despite the pain. "Lo-lockers. Yang…save… me."

"Y-yang saved you?" Ruby tried to piece it together. When Kailey groaned out a yes, Ruby got the idea.

Kailey was ambushed in the lockers by the other fighters. Yang came in and saw the event, but was too late when Kailey was already badly hurt. She got mad, fought them all – and Ruby got her arrested. Tears welling up in her eyes, the little sister cried silently in the transport at the mistake she had done. She should've listened to Yang. Her older sister told her she didn't know what was happening, but she still stepped in. All she knew was that Yang was going to kill those people. She knew it was wrong, but she had to make a choice.

"Kailes, what have I done?" Ruby whimpered, hoping her sister would be okay.

 **In Mistral**

" _Ozpin, did you hear me?"_ A feminine voice asked on the headmaster's scroll.

"I have, Glynda." The headmaster answered, looking at the recording of Ruby and Yang fighting. "I shall inform Taiyang about his daughter's …unfortunate circumstances when this is over. Be sure to have any news on Miss Xiao Long cut from airing to Mistral and Vacuo."

After hanging up, Ozpin looked at his folder and added a picture inside. Closing it, he placed it to another folder titled Beacon Candidates.

 **END**

 **AN: And that's the end of this chapter. It was hard to write all the actions without adding too much detail to make a pointless wall of text. So Yang is in holding (of course, since a trial hasn't happened yet) and Ruby is the hero in the people's eyes. But is she when she sort of saved the ones that hurt her friend? I say sort of because a lot of them were already hurt badly. Or maybe she saved Yang from becoming a killer. It's all perspective on things.**

 **This story ends in next chapter, so look forward to the epilogue. It's gonna be something when families meet up.**

 **This is Aloe and I hope you enjoyed.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY**

 **AN: Hey everyone. This is the final chapter for this and a new story will come out. I know it's a chapter shorter than Jaune's but Ruby's problem isn't as bad since she's in the rich area. Also, it's not like problems were really fixed.**

 **Final Chapter:** Born For Greatness

It was five days after Ruby stayed with Kailey in the hospital. The bluenette needed her rest and was put on heavy sedation for surgery, so any chance of Ruby talking with her wasn't possible. Returning to a house alone with no one to talk to besides Zwei wasn't a fun experience for the young girl. Her dad and uncle would be returning tomorrow morning, but that still wasn't good for Ruby.

She felt horrible, conflicted, and isolated just waiting in Patch. She thought of going into Vale, but she felt too vulnerable just going by herself. She's gone into the city alone before, but it was more of her feelings that was pulling her down. After all the bad news she received, it wasn't like she was walking on sunshine.

To list off: She was able to talk with the doctors on Kailey's condition. Her body would be able to recover, but it wasn't like they could help her completely. Kailey's hands were too damaged they couldn't reset to their proper selves. Not to mention, she had three slipped disks and a bad knee crack that any advanced surgery Atlas had would be too expensive for the family to pay. The bluenette's chances of entering Beacon and being a huntress was now moot. Ruby's friend wasn't awake to hear the bad news, but she knew Kailey would be devastated to hear it.

Next was her sister, Yang. Ruby couldn't get her out of holding since she wasn't a parent or guardian. She explained how their dad and uncle were overseas, but the people inside wouldn't make any exceptions even if she was the daughter of a hero. She tried to at least have a word with her sister, and she was happy to know they could comply with that. Too bad the conversation with her sister wasn't a heart to heart forgiveness talk.

 _Flashback_

 _Walking to the cell Yang was being held in, Ruby saw her older sister brooding in her bed. She was glaring at the wall across from her, not even glancing her way._

" _Hey." The guard bangs on the bar with his baton. "You got a visitor."_

 _When Yang glanced her way, Ruby shifted her feet when nothing was said for a few seconds. Even when the guard left the two alone, Yang still refused to speak. Then when the blonde turned back to glaring at the wall, Ruby knew she had to say something._

" _I was able to meet with Kailey." She said, not sounding too happy about it but trying to. "She's still in the hospital, but the doctors are doing what they can."_

 _Yang huffing meant she was listening, at least that was what Ruby thought, so she continued. "She'll be back on her feet soon. Everything will be ok."_

" _Will it?" Yang snorted, getting off her bed and walking to the cell bars. She was glaring at Ruby, but it wasn't in anger – it was disappointment. "Can you really say that, if you were standing where I'm standing?"_

 _Yang wasn't blaming her. She was just mad. It was all messed up, but this is what was happening._

" _Y-yang, it will get better." Ruby tried to remain optimistic. "When dad get's back, I know it'll all be fixed. Kailey will be ok, you'll be out of jail, and we can all laugh this off like it never happened. We just need to be patient, believe in the law, and do what's right."_

 _She thought her words would come through to her older sister, but it only made her madder._

" _Oh yeah?" The blonde said angrily. She started pacing in her cell with breathing getting louder. When she turned to Ruby, her face was scrunched up in complete anger. "Be patient, right? You think I haven't been patient for, oh I don't know, the past seventeen years of my life?! You think I haven't been patient for those fuckers to give me a break and let me be me? How about when they came after my friends, that I had to cut bridges to protect them that only one stayed by my side?! How much longer, Rubes? Cuz where I'm standing, it looks a whole lot greener on your side of things!"_

 _By the end of her rant, Ruby heard a crack in her older sister's voice. The blonde was trying to hold back tears and her shoulders were shaking from trying to stop the sobs from breaking out._

" _Y-yang, please calm down." The redhead said in a whisper, feeling like she was shrinking on herself._

" _I'll calm down when I'm ready!" Yang shouted, punching the wall and putting a crack. "I followed the fucking laws and tried to do right by myself and others, but look where I'm standing. All because I tried to do right by a friend! You know who stands in these cells Rubes? Prisoners! Bad guys! Criminals! It didn't used to mean me!"_

" _You did try to kill a bunch of students." Ruby said, trying to raise a point weakly._

" _And?" Yang ground out with her hands raised as if waiting for more. "After what they did? You said you saw Kailes, so you know what they did! How'll she be after getting out of the hospital, Rubes? Tell me that! Because the last I saw her before I went to serve justice, she wasn't looking so hot! Where's her justice?!"_

 _Ruby couldn't tell her. It was bad enough hearing it from the doctors, but saying it herself was hard. Instead, she looked down not meeting Yang's eyes._

" _That's what I thought." The blonde muttered, wiping some tears close to leaking out. "And where're the guys responsible for doing that to her, huh? I don't see them rotting in a cell near here. Did they get off free? Is that what this law does?"_

 _They did. Ruby knew they did because she saw them in comfy hospital beds. Those backstabbing wannabe huntsmen in training didn't deserve any good treatment. It made her mad thinking how they could pay for their injuries and open their eyes while Kailey laid in bed going under surgery that couldn't heal her completely. It burned her badly inside she wanted to do something bad._

" _I knew I was right." Yang muttered, plopping on her bed and facing away from Ruby. She could see Ruby's hands shaking in anger._

" _Yang?"_

" _The huntsman life is full of shit." She muttered loudly, getting Ruby to gasp._

" _No its not!" Ruby raised her voice, leaning onto the bars. "Being a huntsman is an honor and a great duty to the people!"_

 _Their parents were huntsmen, and they were proud of their job. They were an inspiration to the people and were a symbol against the forces of evil._

" _Whatever, Ruby." Yang said tired, not even looking her way anymore. "I can't even have you listen to me without doing what you want, so what-ever. Good luck being a huntress. Just don't get me involved in any of that stuff anymore. I'm done."_

 _The little sister spluttered as she was lost for words to say to her. This wasn't Yang. Yang was badass and didn't give up. She was this dynamite woman that could kick names and give ass. Who was this quitter lookalike pretending to be her sister? Her older sister had the talent, the drive, and everything to be the best huntress Remnant's ever seen, and she chose to squander it lying in a cell? Would Yang even budge if she told her to get off her butt and get back into action? So far, it looked like she wouldn't. So it was time to make her listen another way._

" _I'm gonna prove you wrong!" Ruby yelled into the cell. "I'm gonna be a… a really b-badass huntress better than you! And then I'm gonna help a ton of people and they'll remember my name! Just you wait, Yang! Just you wait! You're going to see the life of huntsmen isn't …crap!"_

 _When she was escorted back out, she wasn't even given a wave goodbye or any kind of acknowledgment. Before she was out of earshot though, she had to shout one more thing._

" _And Yang! I'm sorry!" She shouted as loud as possible for her sister to hear._

 _If she had stayed a bit longer, she would've seen her sister's back shaking as she silently cried._

 _End Flashback_

After the visit to prison, Ruby just stayed in Patch lazing around and watching TV. She talked a big game, but her heart wasn't into the training now that it was just her. She saw her dad and uncle in the news with Headmaster Ozpin and General Ironwood during a rerun of the trial in Mistral. It was a shocker to her that the Inner Circle lost. She didn't get all the details, but the result that the Inner Circle lost was something. She also got to see what the champions of Mistral looked like. Pyrrha was as pretty as always, but she wasn't expecting the Outer Circle champion to look so young. It was so different from that ugly picture of the old guy with a toothbrush moustache.

Getting tired of the news, Ruby started flipping through more channels with Zwei laying on her lap. Zipping through them, she groaned at how lame a lot of the stuff was. It was mostly reruns of the new and horrible cartoons, the same movie that played five times everyday of the week, badly dubbed anime, reality TV, and music videos to old songs from three years ago. And in between was eighty percent commercials. She could use the internet to watch something online, but nothing new came out and she finished watching all new vidoes.

"Zwei, I'm really bored." Ruyb patted her dogs head as he slept. "Think you can entertain me?"

The corgi just sneezed and walked off to the kitchen for his food. When he didn't come back, the little reaper groaned louder not finding anything entertaining in the house. Skipping over more channels just to stop her boredom, Ruby reeled back when there was a new ad she never saw before. A new café opened up in Vale and it was in a street she was familiar with. So far, she was just banking on leftovers in the fridge and microwave pizza bagels, but her sweet tooth was hankering for a cake and maybe some macaroons.

She was still feeling down, but she was also bored. And now that she was thinking it over, also hungry. She could keep wallowing in guilt and sadness like she did for the past days, or she could get off her butt, put on some fresh clothes, and at least kill her boredom and hunger.

"I'll be going out Zwei! Watch the house and don't let any strangers in."

 **Vale**

Lines. They were Ruby's greatest enemy. Seriously, why were lines always so slow?

Here she was wanting to go to the new café opened up, and there had to be a long line that spanned three buildings. Some of the people she saw passing by were customers holding takeouts! That meant it was a simple ask for what you want, and then wait a few minutes to get what you wanted. But nope! Some people just had to take a long time to decide what they wanted. You know what she had to say to them?

 _Get out of the line!_

This was taking forever for her. She could go out of the line and find another café or bakery she knew, but the takeouts she saw looked so good she was invested to taste those goodies. She could even smell the sweet confections from where she was. It must've meant they were that fresh and that tasty. To the deities of sweets above, if they could hear her prayer to make this line disappear, she would eat each and every piece of pastry they had in the café in their honor.

Suddenly, the line was starting to get shorter as people were leaving. Ruby wasn't sure what was happening but if the sweet gods answered her prayers, she was going to gorge all out. And then she saw why people were leaving. A bunch of goons were making a mess in the new café. They were all in black with red ties and red shades with hats on. The poor owner inside was being terrorized as they smashed tables and broke the displays for the cakes. The same cakes she was planning to sample!

"Oh, it's on now." Ruby muttered, pulling out her weapon to serve some justice.

Charging in with a battlecry, she kicked the first goon in the head and fired a shot to the one at the cash register. The place was a bit tight to swing her scythe around so she had to take the fight outside. Using her semblance, she grabbed onto one of the goons still standing and rushed out to bring them all out to help their friend. When they all came out with hatchets and the cash register in one of their hands, she turned her weapon into scythe mode and baited them to come at her. When two of them did, she twirled her scythe to parry one, push back the other, and then did a full sweep to get them on the ground. The other two still standing went in opposite directions with the hatchet holder charging at her, and the one with the register running away.

"Hey!" The little reaper shouted, looking away from the attacker.

It was a bad mistake because she almost got cut in the neck. Turning back to the attacker, she made quick work of him with three swings of her scythe. Turning to the guy running with the money, she was going to shoot him but he was soon covered in purple aura and lifted into the air. He was still trying to keep hold of the cash register, but it was pried out of his hand and floated back into the café. Turning to who was doing this, Ruby saw Glynda Goodwitch marching up to her with a stern gaze.

"Wow. You're Glynda Goodwitch." Ruby said in awe, meeting a real professor of Beacon. "Can I have your autograph?"

The blonde woman's stern gaze didn't drop.

 **Police Department**

"What did I do wrong?" Ruby whined as she was handcuffed to the table. Go out, she thought. Get a cake, she thought. And so much for the deities of sweets! They have forsaken her and have lost a devoted follower! …Unless somehow they brought pastries to pull her back in before the day ended.

"Besides vigilantism, you also opened fire in a public area with a civilian still present with no hunter supervision." Glynda replied, not looking amused. "If you truly wanted to help, you could have rescued the owner of the café instead of engaging in combat."

"But I could fight and no other hunter was around, so why not beat them down?" The little girl asked, not seeing how she did things wrong. She flinched when the riding crop slammed close to her fingers.

"And why not put the safety of the civilians first instead of going straight to battle?" The blonde teacher shot back, shooting Ruby down. "With your mentality, I'm more sure of myself for not putting you down for Beacon candidacy."

That surprised Ruby. She didn't make it into Beacon's candidacy? But she fought so hard, trained until her fingers cramped from firing and twirling her weapon. She put everything she had into the tournament to show them all she was good enough for Beacon.

Seeing her crestfallen look, Glynda sat across from her and opened up a file of Ruby's fight in the tournament. Sliding the video over, she pressed play. "Tell me what you see in this video."

"I see me fighting and winning." Ruby answered, remembering how she won. Glynda shook her head at how she didn't see the flaws.

"I see someone who decided to go solo instead of building connections." The teacher told her straight. "I see someone who would rather challenge everyone around her, instead of uniting with those she could trust to help her rise higher. And from what this shows and where we are now, I can see you carry this mentality with you everywhere."

' _I can't even have you listen to me without doing what you want'_

"That's not true!" Ruby denied strongly, feeling it wasn't all her. "I can be a team player. I can trust people."

"In this type of scenario Ms. Rose, actions speak louder than words." Glynda said with a hint of skepticism.

Staying silent, Ruby reflected on how this was going so far. What was there left to say when no matter what, she'd be seen in the wrong? The only thing to do now was to wait for her dad or uncle Qrow to come pick her up. Maybe if she was lucky, they'd bring Yang along too and she'd be in a better mood. When she heard the door knob click, she was brought to the attention of Headmaster Ozpin walking in with a plate of cookies.

"You're a bit late, sir." Glynda told him, getting up from her seat.

"Sorry, Glynda. There was someone I felt I needed to see before coming here." He replied, putting the plate down and leaning to Ruby. "Ruby Rose. I'm not sure if you've heard of me."

"You're Headmaster Ozpin." Ruby replied, looking to him then to the cookies. When he waved at the cookies for her to take, she did not hold back in inhaling them.

"Qrow and your father talk about you and Yang form time to time." He said, taking a seat. "It's not a wonder on who taught you on how to use your weapon."

Swallowing and wiping the crumbs off her face, she nodded at his statement. "Yeah. I was garbage until Uncle Qrow took me under his wing. I even got some help from my sister and friend. And now I can kick butt close to the senior years in Signal."

"Quite." The gray haired man nodded before looking to Goodwitch. "Glynda, from your conversation what have you gathered on Ms. Rose's aptitude and personality."

"I think this file should explain it all, sir." Glynda handed her scroll to him.

Looking at the results, the old man hummed as he read the results aloud. "Ruby Rose. Greatly skilled in scythe wielding and use of high caliber sniper rifle for one her age. Excels in class with above average marks. Quick to adapt and creative in battle. Has talent and motivation. Impressive."

Ruby was looking at Glynda in a new light. Maybe she was hard on the outside, but was sweet on the inside.

"Read the rest sir." The female professor told him.

"Has an …inferiority complex and short attention span. Has complete disregard for others and a danger to herself and those around her." The headmaster read. When Ruby thought he was done, he proved her wrong. "Ah, almost missed this line. Has problem listening to others and is more likely to challenge superiors. Beacon Candidacy: Rejected."

"Anything you would like to say, M. Rose?" Ozpin asked her, giving the scroll back.

"No, sir." She said dejected. It was right there on virtual ink why she wasn't accepted into Beacon early or put on a waiting list. She honestly didn't know she was seen that way, but there it was. "May I leave soon, or will I have to wait for my dad?"

"It's not hard to see you're disappointed of your results." He said, getting her to nod. "Tell me Ruby, have you ever heard the phrase: When one door closes another opens?"

When she shook her head, Ozpin pulled out a paper folder and put it in front of her. "You may not have gotten accepted into Beacon, but what if you were given an alternative? One that suited you more."

Glynda raised her brow, not knowing of what alternative he was talking about.

"Sir?"

"Tell me, Ruby." Ozpin smiled as Ruby opened the folder. "Would you be interested in joining a group of individuals close to your age going around the world and over all borders doing right by others?"

Ruby was speechless as she scanned over the documents. There were others that joined already. It even showed photos of them in training in the most high-tech rooms and using an array of different equipment. Finding her name, she saw her uncle recommended her. Qrow believed she could do this.

"Ozpin, I haven't heard of this." Glynda voiced her concern. "What is this you are giving her?"

"This was an idea that's been scrapped by the councils for a long time." The headmaster answered, motioning to the folder and it's logo- a simple tetrahedron. "An idea that Remnant would bring together a group of remarkable people from all four corners. They would do what we couldn't - to be something more, work together, and fight the battles we never could. It still is scrapped, but we were given a small window of opportunity to give this a chance. To give these new champions a chance."

Ruby put the folder down and traced the logo on it's front. "The Prism Project."

Looking up to Ozpin, she already had her answer. All she needed was a pen now.

 **END**

 **Yang and Ruby will return**

 **Ruby's problem in this gaiden is based off being a daughter to heroes seeing things from the rich side, but at the same time going into conflict of what she thinks is right and wrong. I was planning to make her like Jaune on the first planning, but then that'd be a lazy copy paste. So I made a relatable Ruby that's young, impressionable, ignorant, selective in hearing, and awkward since she's in the 'no problem' zone. She has family problems, first world problems, school problems, self worth problems, and she thinks she knows it all when she doesn't – just like a lot of high schoolers(I can admit I was like that for a while before I got some sense knocked into me.) Ruby's side is mostly about the struggles of how people would try to discredit you, pull you down to their level, and try to take your place. Everyone is looking out for number one, and they don't like it if it's not them – so it's hard to find good friends and even harder to keep them.**

 **For Jaune's gaiden, I was inspired by riots in other countries and corruptions in government. Initially Jaune was supposed to be in Vale as a young rebel with his sisters against the council stealing from the other countries, but I think it would've had a better impact if he was a victim of the war instead of someone who empathized. Then I gave him something to hate and something to fight for.**

 **If you guys read up to here (or skimmed the AN), then I'm glad you got this far because I am taking another page from Marvel and putting after credit scenes.**

 **Shade Academy**

"Headmaster." A large man called to a woman sitting on a chair made of straw and wood. "The last of the candidates has entered."

"Good, Perry." The headmaster said while looking down into the arena where fifty young men and women stood behind caged doors.

Behind each caged door were fierce looking warriors waiting for the cell doors to open so they could charge out and fight. In one cell though, there was someone relaxing in the shade inside with sounds of something being eaten. When the chewing stopped, a banana peel was thrown at the cell bars.

"It's time Vacuo found its champions."

 **AN: Look forward to the next gaiden.**


End file.
